


Storm Clouds - Book 1

by CynthicPsycho



Category: Original Work, Storm Clouds - Fandom
Genre: Azure - Character, Battle, Blood, Caramel - Character - Freeform, Gen, Gore, Gore/Blood, Suburbia, Thunder - Character, War, Wolf Pack, Wolves, blood/gore, city, forest, forest setting, wolf - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-06-08 16:24:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 12
Words: 39,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15247194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CynthicPsycho/pseuds/CynthicPsycho
Summary: This is book one of my series, Storm clouds! It's about a forest with five wolf packs. There is the Pack of the branches, the pack of the waterfall, and three mysterious other packs who appear. Each group have different lifestyles and rules which causes much chaos. Although a mysterious group has begun to arise, which causes more chaos between all groups and changes everything within the packPage Count - 7Pack of The Branches Allegiances - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qZXcvttYf_e9tgMGIZqN3DtOHiaD9eqagEQe2stpwlQ/edit?usp=sharing





	1. Chapter 1

Azure was curled up in the healer’s den, where she slept. Her mentor, Shadow, the first ever healer was beside her in the small bed of moss, which they shared. Shadow’s breathing was slow and was snoring quietly.  
She raised her head then yawned and stretched. Moonlight flickered through the leaves. Casting an eerie light on her fur. Turning the dark side of her fur to a silver. She slipped through the barrier of the den, her breathing shaky and she wheezed but she took little notice towards it. Her lean frame and short fur made it so it never got stuck in the thorns that clung onto other wolves fur.  
The stars in the sky cast an eerie silver light on the ground. The pack always had wondered why the stars seemed to create a path in the sky, showing a dazzling image in the night, when everyone was asleep.  
Azure fumbled with her paws as she walked, nearly tripping on herself multiple times. As she slipped into the darkness she began to breathe more easily and began to trip less on herself. Exhaustion was still gripping on her like vines, calling her back even with the small nap. Azure was surprised how her body had not adapted to the lack of sleep every night and made her asthma symptoms worse.  
A rustle of leaves caught her attention. Thunder came into her view even in the shade of the trees and night along with his dark brown and gray fur. Azure called, “Thunder! Over here!”  
He turned, surprised to see her, then he smiled and walked over to her. He asked, “How are you doing?”  
She replied calmly, “Tired, Just tired, that’s all.”  
Thunder responded jokingly, “Me too. Well, the reaper tribe demands it.”  
Azure felt a pang of anger and frustration out of nowhere. She had been irritable recently since summer was coming and she struggled the most at that time. “I wish I never joined, It’s frustrating to maintain my life with the reaper tribe and my actual pack.”  
Thunder sighed, “You were young when you became a reaper. You didn’t know how it would affect you. you wanted to stay with your mother. I suppose Haven just needed more members and he didn’t tell you anything about it. Reapers are strange that way.”  
She sounded frustrated as she muttered her responce, “Yeah and our dumb code that everyone hates but they can’t just change it because the reapers won’t do anything about it.”  
“Especially the fact that we have to go to their camp every night with few exceptions. I mean, it wouldn’t hurt anyone if we slept.”  
Azure laughed, “At least I have an excuse to go out in the night. Collecting herbs and whatnot. You really shouldn’t be out at night Thunder. But you persuaded them to give you a promotion early to a hunter wolf.”  
Thunder nodded and continued to walk in silence. She began to remember her first meeting with Haven last winter.

\---  
Haven stood in front of Azure, tail swaying in the gloom of the cold night. He smiled, “It’s always nice to get new members. So let me tell you how it works around here. It’s really all that simple. You just come every now and then and just hang out with the reapers really. There is a code but it’s not all that important.”  
\---

Azure remembered how he explained how there were ranks in the reapers who controlled different afterlives. She was lucky and was able to control one. It was the 2nd to last rank, one of the worst ranks. She thought to herself, It’s still an honor, he says, yeah right.  
Thunder let out a sigh and Azure turned. She asked, “What’s wrong?”  
He replied, “Nothing, Just, tired and sick of Haven telling us what to do with our lives. I would still be strict in some ways but be more lenient on all of the crap that probably ruins their lives.”  
Azure grinned. “How would you lead?”  
“I would use discipline to make sure everyone stayed in check but not be so… paranoid and stupid about my rule. Technically, I am second in command, The Serendipitous Reaper always is first in command. Which doesn’t mean that they have a fully pure, innocent, and good heart. Sometimes the ‘Malfasicant’ reapers are nicer than the Serendipitous ones. Most of the time we are just more… mysterious… in a way.”  
Azure nodded, “Good point. I don’t think I’m a bad wolf… and all the calamity reapers and austere reapers are really friendly.”  
Thunder nodded but stopped for the trees had grown the sickly dull brown, almost dark gray. The leaves were black from rot and decay and littered the ground. Every step began to crunch under the dead leaves and some would fly into the air.  
Azure grumbled, “It’s always so scary and has an eerie light from the moon, making a very scary atmosphere. Like, cleanup at least?! I mean… about 20 or so reapers live here and another 10 visit here in the night! It’s scary going out here!”  
An dim light filtered through the tree and knew they were near the reaper camp. The stars seemed to shine brighter near the camp. Azure let out a yap of relief and she raced down the hill skimming past dead trees and nearly giving herself cuts as she raced past.  
She could hear the voices of wolves talking. Through the trees, many wolves were standing in a clearing in their own small groups. She slowed down and trotted into the clearing. Thunder raced down the slope to join her.  
Thunder followed her, his head lowered so the overhanging branches wouldn’t smack him in the face. Azure walked over to a group of friends and her friend, Sira, and sh turned. She giggled, “Hey Azure and Thunder! Evergreen was telling a funny story.”  
Evergreen seemed to continue his story, “So, this one wolf was passing through my pack’s territory and as I made sure she wouldn’t hunt anything she tripped on a rock and fell face-first into the river! When she got out she looked so startled and her fur was dripping wet and it just looked so funny!”  
A few of them chuckled. Sira asked, “When did that happen?”  
Evergreen shrugged. “Almost a year ago, probably last spring. Anyway, I’ve been hunting in the enchanted forest all day.”  
Azure asked, “What the hell is the enchanted forest, I’ve been here for almost a year but I have never been told about “the enchanted forest”.”  
Dira, Sira’s sister replied, “Every day, five or six members go hunting in this forest, It is extremely lush and some special ceremonies are held there don’t you remember it?”  
Azure tried to recall the day. “Oh Yeah! I didn’t remember anyone telling me what it was when some of the wolves became full members of the reaper tribe. I am a runt and back then I was so small Thunder had to grab me and carry me. Remember that Thunder?”  
Thunder nodded. “Yeah, that was funny, you kept asking ‘Are we there yet’ every five seconds!”  
Dira burst into laughter. She managed to say through her laughter. “I should have been there! But I was only a few weeks old so I couldn’t even leave the den yet!”  
Dira quieted down and began quietly cleaning herself off. “I was hunting with Evergreen, I kept getting stuck in mud, I got most off but my skin feels like it’s crawling still. I’m such a neat freak.”  
Evergreen laughed, “I bet there’s still worms in it from the mud.”  
Dira face changed into a shocked expression and immediately ran off into the forest. She sent a wave of dust in their faces. Thunder coughed sending more dust in their faces and Azure couldn’t help but laughing hysterically.  
Sira sighed, “This conversation is getting nothing done. Shouldn’t we actually do something?”  
Azure asked, “What can we do? No one seems to have died. That sounds morbid but it gives us nothing to do.”  
Sira replied. “Get something to eat. And speaking of that, Thunder your breath stinks next time you’re at your own camp get your healer to clean your teeth or something. Gosh. What did you even eat?”  
Thunder replied casually. “A day old rabbit.”  
Sira winced. “Gross. Let’s get something nicer. Like this deer. Over in the prey corner. “  
Evergreen was still chuckling as they walked over to the dead deer in the corner. Thunder immediately yelled, “Dibs on the deer legs!”  
Evergreen moaned. “Not the best part!”  
“Azure and Sira settled down to eat making sure to stay semi-far from the boys who were playing tug of war using a deer leg. Sira laughed. “They could just each have one.” She called to them. “You could just have one each you ding dongs!”  
Evergreen immediately dropped his side and blankly said, “Oh yeah…”  
Thunder was still holding on and took a big bite. Evergreen went over and tried to rip the leg out of the socket. Azure only said, “Eww… That’s gross to watch something getting a limb ripped off.”  
Azure took a bite getting blood all over her muzzle as she dug in. Sira joined in and everyone continued just talk about how their real packs have been doing. Sira couldn’t contribute much for this was her real pack, she was born a reaper.  
Evergreen chimed in, “In my pack, my alpha has gotten older and he is sick. He still acts as if he’s fine but we can see him getting weaker every day. He is actually plotting an attack on a rival pack. We intend to attack soon at dusk. Speaking of dusk, It’s almost dawn. I need to get back to my pack.”  
Evergreen stood up, cleaned himself off and trotted back into the woods. Thunder looked up and looked up at the pale sky and she could see him begin to panic. Azure told Sira. “Dira’s been gone all night. You should go and find her. Also me and Thunder need to go home, he’s gonna start panicking if I don’t go. It was nice talking to you though! Seeya!”  
Thunder stood up and Azure followed as they went back into the dark woods Sira howling goodbye as they disappeared into the dark forest. She sprinted through the woods ready to get home. Her long, nimble legs made it easy to run long distance. Thunder ran behind not quite being able to keep at her pace.  
The dead trees soon turned into green as they returned into the forest. The pre-dawn light made sky turn a light gray. The fur on the back of thunder’s neck began to rise. He growled, “Holy shit! we won’t make it pack to the camp!”  
Azure yelled, “Then run!”  
Thunder began sprinting down and Azure just about was able to catch up. She panted, “You can run when you're under pressure! Damn! But you know you can just say you were hunting early!”  
Thunder skidded to a halt when they saw camp. They managed to catch their breath long enough that they would stop panting. Thunder growled, “You could have said that before we started springing you jerk!”  
Azure replied smugly, “That’s what I do!”  
She smiled noticing that everyone was still asleep. The sun had just by the tiniest amount peaked over the mountains making the pale gray start turning into pink. Thunder went in camp first and he disappeared into the bush that was the hunter’s den.  
Azure was alone. She lowered herself and stalked through the grasses in camp. She managed to get herself into the healers den in time but decided there was no point in trying to sleep. Shadow would be up early. Perhaps I can say that I was organizing herbs because I couldn’t sleep and I tried to go and find some but it was too dark. Perhaps I can get some sleep then.  
Azure began to sort the herbs Her tail swayed as she sorted. She muttered, “Tyme goes over here, Aloe goes over with the treatments for burns, Ash tree seeds go over here for pain and Indigestion next to the bindweed.”  
Behind her a rustle caught her attention. Shadow raised her head and groggily asked, “Azure? What are you doing awake? The Sun only just begun to rise?”  
Azure replied, “Couldn’t sleep, I decided to go take a walk but I couldn’t sleep so I decided to go and organise herbs.”  
Shadow looked like she was confused is she should get angry or be grateful. “Well thank you, I guess. You can go and rest if you want. Thanks, but you know you don’t know all the herbs so it was a pretty shitty idea to do it without me.”  
Azure barked, “Well, I spent most of the time trying to find herbs but I couldn’t find any so I didn’t get far enough to the herbs that I don’t know.”  
Azure curled up in the nest. She put her paws over her nose as she curled up in the bed of moss. She flicked her tail before she closed her eyes and went to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 1-3 are introducing the three main characters. Thunder, Azure, and Caramel.  
> Caramel is the Omega of the pack after attacking Thunder 6 months ago. This is why later on it is mentioned Thunder has a scar on his neck.  
> This chapter in the point of view of Caramel, introducing his character.  
> PAGE COUNT - 6

Caramel grumbled as he sat down picking out rocks from the beds of moss in the hunters den that the hunters slept in. He began to create a small pile of pebbles and rocks. He let out a long, frustrated sigh as one small rock got stuck in the bedding. He clawed viciously at the moss trying to get the lodged rock out of the bedding.  
He tugged at the moss and he heard footsteps. He paused and Hazel walked in. She smiled. “Hey Omeg… I mean Caramel… sorry. Would you like some help? They want me to rest and stuff ‘cause human scents are being found at the edges of the territory and I might need to use my ol’ skills to protect the nursery. But I want to help.”  
Caramel replied nervously, “Okay, but If you get hurt it will be...”  
“I’m not going to get hurt silly!”  
Hazel walked over and barked sarcastically, “It’s just a rock silly just a bit stuck in the moss. No one thinks I can handle even rocks anymore. I may be the oldest wolf in the pack but I’m only seven years old. Some wolves live up to fifteen!”  
“Well sorry Hazel that I underestimated you! Go ahead. I’ll try to get some of the random pebbles out of the moss beds.”  
“I think your parents and some of the other wolves just throw rocks for you to clean up. I felt bad.”  
“Yeah. I would rather be taking care of pups sometimes and they are brats!”  
“You know what I’ll take care of this. Go and help out Azure. A few wolves are starting to get sick so she might need some help. It’s better than this! Enjoy yourself!”  
Caramel nodded. “I’ll see you later Hazel.”  
Caramel slipped out from under the bush that was the hunter’s den. He stretched and made his way over to the healers den. As he walked in a thorn got lodged in his fur. He ignored the throbbing in his shoulder as he was greeted by Shadow leaning over a gray wolf. Shadow looked up. She pointed to his shoulder, “Caramel you have a massive thorn in your shoulder.”  
Caramel assured her, “That’s not why I’m in here. I’ll take it out later, Hazel asked me to get herbs for you and Azure. Is there anything you are running low on.”  
Caramel began to get the thorn out of his shoulder which dug in surprisingly deep. Shadow replied, “Well we are running low on mint. It’s a good way to freshen breath and keep cavities away. Along with that, It’s good to get pups to eat herbs and it tastes good so they’ll actually eat their herbs. And with Sunrise’s pups on the way, It’s good to have a good stock of them. It’s green with jagged leaves and It should grow near the human border.”  
He nodded and held the thorn in his mouth. It was now stained with blood and was surprisingly big for a thorn. His shoulder was bleeding freely as he walked out. Small droplets of blood started dripping down onto his paws and the ground wherever he walked. Sunrise was passing by and looked over, shocked at his wound. Before she could speak he slunk away, he did not want sympathy from her.  
He raced through the forest ignoring the pain and followed the scent of humans. After about ten minutes he stopped needing to breathe and winced at the scent of death. He shivered in fear but continued to just walk now. The death smell seemed to come off of a cat. He had never seen one but he walked over to the smell in curiosity.  
A sweet smell hit his nose as he continued walking. Mint.  
He could hear the roar of the humans evil machines. Mom always told stories about how she used to live in the human’s city and because she was mistaken for a dog. She said they were called something called, cars… I think. She saw dogs getting hit by them and die.  
He sighed in relief that the mint leaves were on his side of the path. The leaves smelled sweet but were no match for the acrid stench of the path. Caramel walked over and carefully picked off the leaves making sure not to break them. He jumped when he heard loud calling. It didn’t sound like a wolf. It’s probably humans I better get out.  
Before the humans could even be spotted he bolted carrying mint leaves in his mouth. Small bits of the juice from the leaves dripped onto his tongue but he didn’t swallow. He knew that the pack was friendly to each other but never to him. I am omega, I’m supposed to be the one that did something wrong to earn this rank. I got angry and attacked a member of the pack, Thunder. now I’m here running around doing stupid chores. I never even became a hunter wolf.  
He slowed down as he walked down the slope and a leaf flew into the air. Not wanting to risk more leaves he kept his head down holding on tighter to the mint leaves. He raised his eyes to see in the distance a hunting patrol. He trotted faster to get back home.  
After a minute he reached camp again. He slowly walked back to the healer’s den, head down out of exhaustion. He felt glad his wound wasn’t bleeding as bad now, he had just realized. He slunk back in the healers den managing to still have the mint leaves still in his mouth.  
He dropped them and he fell to the ground panting. Azure walked out of the herb store and thanked him with a nod. “Thanks! We were running low and I suspect that Thunder is going to need to have some. His breath smells like garbage!”  
Caramel winced at the name ‘Thunder’. He asked, “Azure, what should I do next? I’m exhausted from running though.” He thought to himself, I always have to ask that after a task is complete. I hope she will give me an easier task.  
Azure thought for a minute. “Go and give some prey to the sick. Ash got very sick yesterday and he needs his strength. Although I hope he can even eat it. He can barely eat or sleep. Get some water. You can soak it up in some moss.”  
Caramel replied trying to sound cheerful, “Sure! Sounds good!”  
Caramel walked out of the den under the fallen tree and was covered by canopy of leaves. It was decorated with small blue flowers and on two sides there were walls of stone from the cliff up above.  
He began walking over to where the prey was stored, in the clearing under a massive oak tree where the prey was stored at the roots. He poked his head inside and grabbed a bit of fur. He pulled it out and realized it was a rabbit. He thought, This should do nicely.  
He found some moss growing on the side of the tree. He scraped it off and bunched it together. He carried it alongside the rabbit going to the stream after he gave Ash the rabbit.  
He began to walk back to the healer’s den. He snuck back in with the rabbit in his mouth. It was a white rabbit. He eyed the small den for the gray spotted wolf. He found him near the center facing the opposite direction, shivering in a pile of leaves as bedding.  
Caramel walked over and dropped the rabbit at his feet. Ash looked up. Dark circles were under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept for days and his fur was a mess of gray fur. Caramel asked, “Are you okay? I brought you some food. I’ll get you water soon.”  
He croaked in a reply, “Yes, just a bit sick.”  
He trotted off, out of camp, to the closest brook. It was in a dusty, empty, glade. It wasn’t filled with prey but it was always good to see if any prey was around. He turned to the slow-moving river and dunked the moss, and most of his muzzle by accident and raised it back up.  
He ran back to camp and sprinted to the healers den. He dropped the water at Ash’s paws. He smiled weakly, “Thank you.” before lapping up the water.  
He noticed that there was an acrid stench of vomit and some vomit dripping down the side of his mouth. He saw that he had tried to take a bite of rabbit but he choked it back up.  
Ash took a small bite of the rabbit and tried to make sure he kept it down. Caramel felt nervous and trotted over to Azure quickly. He asked nervously, Is there anything else I need to do?”  
Azure replied, “Go and rest. You need it, You have to guard every night and besides, it looks like it’s going to rain. It’s very cloudy. Make sure you have shelter”  
Caramel nodded and walked out behind the Healers den. He was allowed to sleep wherever he liked unless it was a den. He often slept on a flat rock overlooking a patch of flowers, next to the herb store. It didn’t count as a den and It was better than sleeping out in the open. The massive cliffs overhead created shade for when It was hot and when it was cold kept out rain and snow.  
Caramel leaped up onto the rock and looked down at the flowers, they blowed in the wind, calming him. His eyelids began to grow heavy and he lied down, trying to force himself to stay awake.  
He had to have fallen asleep for now the sun was beginning to set over the hills that encircled camp on three sides. Stars speckled the indigo sky.  
His stomach growled and he went over to get some food, He hoped something decent would be left for him for her was only allowed to eat at sunset because the scraps would be there for him. Since he was the lowest rank.  
He walked over and dug his face into the roots trying to see the prey inside. He sighed in relief to see that a rabbit and a squirrel were lying under the roots of the tree. He snagged them with his teeth and placed them down in the grass.  
Sunrise, one of the wolves walked over. She asked Caramel, “Caramel, Could I have the squirrel?”  
Caramel chuckled, “Well, you have to respect your elders so here you go!”  
Sunrise laughed and held the squirrel in her jaws. She said through a mouthful of fur, “I’ll just eat here. And I’m not old!”  
Caramel remarked, “Well, I’m younger than you…”  
Sunrise playfully nipped at his non-torn ear. She retorted, “By about three and a half years! You’re about a year and a half old if I recall correctly. I’m about five years old!  
Caramel just wanted the rabbit, that would satisfy him enough. Caramel took a large bite and smiled at how good it tasted. It was very large and fat for a rabbit and was the best meal he had for longer than he could remember.   
Caramel laughed, “Why would they leave the best prey in the prey pile? This rabbit’s the best i’ve ever had!”  
Sunrise replied, “Shadow’s quartet of pups caught a deer today. Even Silver helped! She’s a great hunter! Even with her… er… disability.”  
Caramel noted, “Silver’s a great hunter. Wolves don’t need sight to be able to hunt. Her smell and hearing are great! She can pinpoint food as if she can see! It’s admirable!”  
Sunrise smiled. “Well, Caramel, I suppose you must go and guard camp tonight Let’s hope nothing Bad happens tonight.”  
Caramel Responded, “I doubt anything will happen.”  
Sunrise nodded and padded away into her den. The long shadows of the evening shrouded the entrance in darkness enveloping Sunrise in the dark cloak. Caramel sighed and went off to guard the entrance in the gloomy night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sira Mentions something important in this chapter that affects the entire plot.  
> Heh heh  
> PAGE COUNT - 6

Thunder opened his eyes and blinked a few times. He put his paws off his snout and raised his head. Moonlight flickered through the branches of the collection of bushes and shrubs that made it so rain protected the sleeping hunters.  
He flicked his tail as he tried to wake himself up. He felt groggy from his nap. He shook his head trying to clear his head before standing up in the moss bed. He tried to keep his head down so his head wouldn’t bump the roof of the den. He walked over some of the sleeping wolves trying not to step on stray paws or tails.  
He slipped through the entrance of the den and sat down in the moonlit grass. He cleaned himself quickly to get scraps of moss in his short fur. He then stood up and began to walk over to the healer’s den. Before he could even reach the den Azure slipped out of the den. Azure asked in a whisper, “Ready to go?”  
Thunder nodded and glanced over at the entrance. Caramel had left most likely to get a drink or something along those lines, he did this often in the night probably just to get away from his duties. These gaps were a good opportunity to exit camp to head over to the reaper’s camp.  
Azure crouched down trying to be as silent as possible. Sometimes he envied her stealth. His big frame made it harder for him to be stealthy. Thunder made light pawsteps as he moved which he hated since he put all of his pressure on his toes and it was hard with his weight.  
They managed to creep their way over to the entrance. Azure slipped through with ease while Thunder followed. Once they managed to stalk into the underbrush they stood up and began to run into the woods.  
Both him and Azure enjoyed to race sometimes to improve endurance for the fact that it was quite a distance from the “dead forest”, at least that’s what everyone called it. They would have to go across their entire territory and farther just to get to that camp. If they walked it would take half the night, and then coming back would take longer. They had grown so accustomed to this that they could run and it would take a small fraction of the night to get there. They had been doing this non-stop for months.  
Azure raced ahead, her long, wiry legs giving her an advantage even though she had less endurance. By the time Thunder caught up she was already prepared to keep sprinting which never gave Thunder a break. Her long tail whipped behind her like a flag in the wind. Thunder looked over at the branches ahead which gave him an Idea. He felt playful that night and he did need to practice some of his climbing skills.  
He looked for a low hanging branch and once he saw one he leaped up and started climbing from limb to limb. Eventually he reached the top where the branches lead a clear path to the reaper camp.  
His sharp claws sunk into the branch for a split second before he leaped to another branch. This way he was able to be at the same pace as his friend. He could hear Azure’s paws pounding against the hard ground from underneath him. He saw the trees begin to end into a clearing. He knew it was the reaper camp.  
As he stepped onto the last branch with grace he hesitated waiting for Azure to catch up before leaping down.  
The Two wolves stood together. He eyed the clearing for some of his friends. He spotted Sira, Dira, and Evergreen talking. Even from a distance, he could see that Dira looked nervous. Azure began to walk over and Thunder followed.  
Once they walked over, Azure asked, panting, “Hey! Any News we might have missed?”  
Dira replied trying to look calm again, “Training session tonight. They’re quizzing us today. I’m just nervous.”  
Thunder realized, “Oh wait. Today is my last day of training, I’m nearly a year old so today is my last day of training.”  
Sira laughed. “Well at least you aren’t just going to be just tested on the history of the reapers… I honestly don’t pay attention. The only thing I ever learned in getting lectured was that my dad wasn’t the person who came up with the one bullshit Idea to literally make the reapers fucking breed.” She sounded annoyed and Thunder couldn’t blame her.  
He chuckled, “Well, at least do you know the basics?”  
Sira replied with an umm, which made everyone laugh. Dira complained, “You always cheat whenever we are forced to recite something. You bribe wolves with food!”  
Sira replied, “Well, At least I became a good hunter and fighter.”  
Evergreen asked, “How exactly a fighter?”  
Sira replied coolly, “I would jump on them if they refused after giving them food.”  
Evergreen laughed. “Damn! How aren’t you caught?”  
Sira shrugged and Thunder insisted, “Well we better get to our mentors then. See you guys later!”  
Evergreen nodded and padded off and then the others dispersed. He knew how his mentor liked to meet by the clearing overlooking the river. He began to head over to the direction of the river.  
He had worn himself out too much to run so he walked through the dead trees and brown and black leaves littering the ground. His long tail dragged on the ground as he walked through the dark patch of the woods. He had noticed while hunting that some parts of the forest were charred and dead and some were lush and beautiful. He guessed that fires had destroyed these parts of forest.  
The forest was charred in the front and that’s why most were scared to enter, along with when you did step paw in you would hear growling and the reapers had made their territory make non-reaper wolves unsettled whenever they entered. Thunder looked up to see that the trees were beginning to look less charred and green leaves illuminated by the silver moon made the night look less treacherous.  
Thunder tried to sniff out the scent of the river. What hit his nose was the scent of flowers blooming but in the distance he smelled the tangy scent of fish. He muttered to himself, “Okay so the river to my right.”  
He turned and crept through the bushes. He gently pushed a branch away to see what was there.  
He saw his mentor, standing in the clearing, looking down at her paws. Thunder, smiled and crept forward. As he walked he stepped on a twig. He thought, Okay I hope at least she didn’t see me.  
She looked up, confused, not seeing him. She looked back over at the river. She lowered her head to drink the water. He took the chance to strike. He stalked out crouched right in front of the bushes. He leaped up and before his mentor could look behind her, He slammed into his mentor nipping her ear.  
She looked up in surprise. She asked, astonished, “Wow! You were stealthy! How did you do that?”  
He replied, getting off of Raven. “That was easy, I was downwind of you and remembered the stalking techniques.”  
She laughed, “Well, Finally! You learned! That took the entire span of training! I suppose we can start your assessment.”  
Thunder retorted, “What are we waiting for?”  
Raven ordered, “Alright. The first part is that hunt as much as you can before the end of the night. Tomorrow we will continue your assessment.”  
He nodded and bounded off into the woods. The leaves rustled as he bolted through them. He lifted his nose to smell for prey. He smelled deer in the distance and began to follow the scent. The scent was edged with the scent of oak of maple trees so it wasn’t in a charred part of the woods. He thought, And thank goodness. The bats there fly at me constantly. I wonder if they think my black ears are bats?  
After a while of walking he spotted a small herd sleeping together, expect a small fawn that was straying from the herd. It wasn’t too small and he could drag it back to his mentor. He watched it and crept closer. He thought, Don’t you dare call out. I just hope it doesn’t smell me. I’m downwind, right?  
After waiting for a minute he leaped biting it by the neck. Before it could cry out he bit down so hard he heard a bone crack underneath the weight of his jaws. It thrashed for a minute before going limp in his jaws. The body dropped to the ground crashing to the ground with a loud thud.  
One of the deer sleepily opened its eyes and blinked at him. He quickly grabbed the fawn and sprinted into the woods. The taste of blood was filling his mouth.  
After making sure he was a good distance away he set it down so he could bring it back after hunting for a bit.  
He smelled a rabbit nearby, hoping the blood wouldn’t scare it away. He passed a few trees to a log that he knew had a plethora of rabbits. He saw one eating some sort of plant that he couldn’t recognize. He pounced knowing it couldn’t run in the confines of the forest. It slipped out from underneath his paws. He turned quickly, snarling at it. He continued to chase it. Through the forest.  
It went through the way he had walked into one of the many tiny clearings where the sun poked through and in this case, the moon and stars. He was wrong that the rabbit couldn’t run. It sprinted gracefully through the forest.  
While his large frame made it so his fur scraped the sides of trees. After a while of chasing it it tried to leap over a log but it’s hind legs tripped on the logs causing it to stop. He finally got close and bit down hard at its neck. He picked it up and began to return to the fawn he head left under a tree.  
He couldn’t smell much prey after that. Thunder had most likely scared the rest of the prey off from all the blood of the fawn. He wiped the blood from his mouth and picked it up. He followed the fawn’s scent. A wolf was around it’s scent and he braced to fight. He ran into the small clearing where he put the fawn.  
He saw his friend Sira sniffing the fawn. She looked up in surprise to see him there. She laughed. “Sorry. I didn’t know it was yours.”  
“Trying to cheat and use the elk as a bribe, huh?”  
“Yup. It’s what I do best.”  
“Relying on others for prey is going to get you killed one day.”  
“That’s dark… But I’ll be fine. As long as I’m in the reaper pack I’ll be fine.”  
Thunder shrugged, “Who knows? They might leave or something might happen.” He mentioned under his breath, “I don’t like Haven’s ideals. I want to do something about that.  
Sira asked, “What did you say?”  
His ears shot up, “Nothing! I was just talking to myself about the assessment.”  
Sira blinked but nodded at him.  
Thunder complained, “You’re lucky you’re not on your assessment. You have nearly 6 months before your assessment.”  
“Well Good luck Thunder. I’ll see you later. It’s past the moon’s peak so you probably want to head back.”  
“Goodbye Sira,” He said before dragging the fawn along with the rabbit back to the clearing where his mentor would be waiting.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PAGE COUNT - 16  
> I finally explain some shit

Azure was in her nest, which she shared with Shadow, her mentor. She had just managed to settle inside her nest. Exhausted from her assessment, she had nearly collapsed on the soft pile of moss. Her exhaustion quickly dragged her into sleep.  
She found herself running, but didn’t know from what. She just felt like she couldn’t stop. Her nimble paws skirted across the grass and soon reached stone and dirt. She couldn’t see her surroundings clearly. She saw a blur of trees and sometimes rocks. This made it for her hard to breath as she felt her throat close up from over-exertion.   
Hot breath was on her neck and she dared to turn. She turned and her eyes widened. A Large silhouette was chasing her. Once she turned to run faster she could feel it leap. It’s massive paw fell on her. She writhed under its weight and it’s claws sunk into her flesh. She let out a cry of pain.  
She glanced up her eyes blurring from the pain and saw the figure. Staring at her with cold, amber eyes. It leaned close to her face and growled, “Wake up.”  
She was confused for a moment and then awoke to the face of her mentor, Shadow, looking at her in concern. She asked, “Are you okay? You were writhing and weren’t breathing.”  
She sighed. “I’m… Fine.. Just a Nightmare.” She started to whimper.  
Shadow looked at her sympathetically and let out a cry of fear. The dream had scared her badly enough to make her cry out. She always had been afraid death and even a near death experience in a dream terrified her. Shadow walked close to her and Azure dug her muzzle into her fur.  
Shadow cooed as if she was a small pup. Shadow cooed, “It’s okay. It’s just a nightmare. It’s over.”  
Azure whimpered. “I’m.. Sorry.. Just..”  
“It’s okay Azure. Go and take a few deep breaths. I’ll let you take the morning off and relax.”  
Azure breathed. “Thanks Shadow.”  
Shadow pulled away and went over to Ash who had been sick for a while. He hadn’t been bothered by any of the commotion. She murmured, “Dad. Get better for me, please. I don’t want anyone I know to die.”  
She walked out of the den and stretched in the morning sun. The dawn was casting shadows across camp. The sky was a peach colored shade in the morning. It was beautiful with clouds creating patterns across the sprawling sky.  
She shook herself getting strands off grass and moss out. Her fur was very short so she didn’t have to worry about it being clean that often as other wolves. Azure didn’t feel like sleeping. I don’t want to return to the nightmare.  
She saw some hunters coming out of the den, ready to go hunting. She wondered if she could join them. She may have been a healer, but healers had the authority to go hunting with the Hunters and even battles for healing purposes.  
She spotted Swift, ordering wolves to hunt. Azure decided to walk over.   
She trotted over and asked. “Could I join a patrol?”  
Swift replied coolly, “Sure. Join Star, Arrow, and Copper. They’re going to make sure the Waterfall pack didn’t trespass during the night. You know how they do that sometimes”  
She flicked her tail towards the wolves leaving the clearing to go into the forest. She bounded over on her nimble paws. Her paws crunched against leaves and grass. Star turned and barked with excitement in her tone. “Azure! Are you coming with us?”  
She replied, giggling a little to her trainee friend. “Yup! Don’t worry I got Swift’s permission.”  
Arrow sighed. “I guess it’s fine then, Just make sure you keep up. I’m also testing Star’s speed today with a race through the forest. You want to join us? I also just want to make sure your asthma won’t be a problem.”  
Azure laughed. “Sounds like fun. But, don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I know when to stop.”  
Arrow slipped through the barrier of camp which was being guarded by Caramel. Arrow flicked his tail at him. Signally that he could go and do some of the chores for pack members.  
Arrow began to run ahead, most likely so that they could follow him to test her speed. Star bounded forward and Azure followed. She blazed past Star following Arrow’s scent, for he had disappeared into the trees.  
She bounded over fallen logs and small creeks but she kept running. She had begun to breathe heavily and something felt like it was putting pressure on her chest, making it even harder to breathe. She tried to ignore it, waiting for it to pass. She looked up to see the dawn light peeking through cracks in the leaves. The sun had risen over the mountains in the distance. The sky turned a shade of blue.  
She looked in front of her and weaved through trees. She saw a flash of blue between the trees and ran towards it. She looked behind herself to see Star struggling to get over a log. She must have been exhausted from the run across the territory.  
She burst into the small clearing and collapsed on the grass, panting. Arrow glanced at her, surprised. “You are fast most wolves and you’re still so young!”  
She managed to gasp through ragged breaths. “Practice… I.. Guess.”  
I ran farther than that a few hours ago I suppose that’s why I’m so tired.  
Shortly after her, Star bounded into the clearing and collapsed beside her. She managed to say, “Wow! I’m glad I didn’t eat anything before I raced. I would have just vomited it all up.”  
Azure winced. “I didn’t either.”  
Star smiled at her. Azure coughed. She wheezed, “Yeah.. I’m going to vomit.”  
Star asked, “Wait are you serious?”  
“Not really but I’m very nauseous now. I don’t have anything in my stomach.”  
Arrow offered,“How about I do the first section of the patrol with Copper. When he manages to get here. Star. You can rest too. You deserve it.”  
Star light-heartedly laughed. “Come on Azure. Let’s go and clean up a bit..”  
Star helped her over to the river. This section of the river was very calm. The sun glistened on it, making the water sparkle with sunlight. Star stepped into the water, it went up to her shoulders.  
At first Star gasped at the cold but she splashed in it playfully after a bit. Azure watched. After splashing to get used to it she asked, “Why don’t you get in Azure? The water’s great!”  
“I’m… Afraid of water…”  
Star bust out laughing. “Only cats are afraid of water! You must be joking!”  
She retorted. “I’m not kidding. I don’t want to drown!”  
Star playfully splashed her with water. Azure yelped loudly in fear and jumped back. Once she came to her senses she glared at Star, pelt dripping with water. Star couldn’t stop laughing. She growled, “Star! Really?”  
Star stopped laughing and apologized, still laughing a little. “I’m sorry.”  
Azure sighed and shook her fur out. Star splashed in the water a bit while Azure curled up beside it dozing off a bit.  
Star soon swam out of the water and shook her fur off. Azure opened her eyes and looked at her. Azure suggested. “We should probably join Arrow in the patrol. I can scent him coming this way.”  
Star stretched before replying, “Aww.. okay.”  
Arrow padded into the clearing. “I suppose you know are ready.”  
“Yup!” They said in unison.  
“Good. Let’s patrol the rest of this border. Then perhaps we can get back to camp.”  
Copper leaped out of the bushes. Arrow rolled his eyes. “Now you get here!”  
“Sorry. I found two rabbits and chased them.”  
Star asked, “Well, where are they?”  
“I Hid them in some bushes so nothing would eat it.  
Arrow growled. “At least you caught some prey. Come on, let’s go.”  
They followed Arrow through the patrol. The sun was high in the sky by the time they were finished and had returned to camp, Copper having grabbed the rabbits he had caught. Azure was glad. She was beginning to think Copper had just eaten the rabbits.  
Azure stretched in the clearing and walked over to the prey pile. She grabbed a squirrel and placed it in front of her paws. She muttered. “Not much but I’ll be eating later.”  
She took a bite of it and looked up to see Caramel walking past. As he passed he glared at her. Azure gulped down the meat and looked away. She remembered the incident that made him hate her so much. I’m sorry Caramel.  
She continued to eat the squirrel. Once she finished it she quickly buried it’s bones and walked over to the healer’s den. She poked her head it to see Shadow picking out herbs. She turned and flicked her tail signally for her to come in.  
She padded in and walked over to her. Shadow asked, sounding annoyed. “Why were you late Azure?”  
“I… was on a patrol to take my mind off of the dream.”  
“Well. at least you’re here now. Let’s get to work.”  
Azure asked. “What is Ash sick with exactly?” She glanced over at Ash who was crumpled in his nest, shaking.  
Shadow replied, “It’s been reduced to a fever. He should be back on his paws in a few days. Azure, do you know what helps with fever?”  
She thought for a moment before saying, “Feverfew does good. It says it in the name itself!”  
“This is not the time to be joking around, for fuck’s sake!”  
She sighed. “Sorry. Just was trying to lighten the mood.” She paused as she glanced at the pile of herbs. “Looks like we have just enough to give him. I should have collected some when I was beside the river.”  
Shadow insisted, “You need to start collecting herbs when you find some. It might just save a wolf’s life. You might not have the time to have you or the omega to collect something.”  
Azure rolled her eyes and picked up the tiny flowers by the stem in her jaws. The tangy taste of it hit her tongue, making her wince. She walked over to the bundle of fur that was her father, Ash. His fluffy gray fur was messy and tangled with knots.  
She set the plant in front of him. He opened his eyes and looked up at her. She nudged them closer with her paw. “Eat these. They should help with your fever.”  
He nodded and placed them between his paws. He looked at the flowers before biting down on a few of them. He winced from the strong taste. Shadow called across the den, “Oh yeah, the taste is strong.”  
He managed to swallow the plant. He mumbled, “Thanks. I should rest some more. I might as well.”  
“It will help you get better faster but you better groom your fur as well. Get well soon dad!” She trotted off but paused when Caramel walked in. She acknowledged his arrival with a flick of his ear, not wanting to speak.  
Shadow grunted, “About time you arrived. We’re out of Feverfew, and running low on Honey, and Juniper Berries. Feverfew grows near the river, You should know where honey comes from and Juniper berries should be anywhere where there isn’t too much water.”  
Caramel nodded obediently but as he exited she heard him mumble, “Great. Bee stings for me!”  
Shadow asked, “What’s up with him? I know he’s not just grumpy about being omega.”  
Azure guessed, “I guess he’s still mad about Thunder.”  
“I’m not into all of the youngster’s drama, what was up with you and Thunder?”  
She hated to say it but Shadow was not the wolf to accept ‘I don’t want to talk about it’. She gulped before speaking, “Well, me and Caramel were together, in a sense. But… I fell in love with Thunder. Caramel did not take that well and attacked Thunder. Now he’s omega.”  
“I remember the Injury part and the omega part. You shouldn’t be focusing so much on romance though. I didn’t fall in love until I was at least 3 years old.”  
She shrugged, “I guess the male-wolves just really like me.”  
Shadow growled, “As long as I’m your mentor, I better see most of your attention on healing.”  
“Thunder never leaves me alone, ever! Except when you’re around! Everyone is so clingy here!”  
“Well he’s dumb! Don’t pay attention to him!  
She was glad the conversation had grown light-hearted. Azure stretched as she yawned, “I need to get some rest. I didn’t sleep well last night.”  
Shadow sounded concerned, “You never sleep well. Is there something wrong?”  
She was surprised by the question. Was she noticing how she left every night? “N...nothing. I just get some insomnia.”  
Shadow growled, “I see you leaving every night! I’m suspicious and worried! Banji is also concerned!”  
Azure wondered to herself, How can I get myself out of this? She stammered, “I just like taking walks daily. They help me sleep since I’m restless.”  
“Poppy seeds help with sleep. Use them if you’re ever having trouble sleeping.”  
“I’ll keep that in mind.”  
She walked over to the nest and curled up in it, not used to all the space. She fell asleep quickly from exhaustion. She hadn’t noticed it until she had curled up in the soft bed of moss and leaves.  
She woke up from a dreamless sleep and noticed that Shadow was curled up beside her. She snuck out of the den, knowing she had to leave. She stood up and snuck out of the den. Seeing that the moon had just begun to rise. Thunder must have already left for she could faintly smell his scent leading out of camp.  
She trotted over to the entrance, she saw a shining red liquid near the entrance, Is that, blood?  
She padded nearer to see that Caramel was guarding camp entrance, but his left ear had a large, V-shaped scar on it. It was bleeding heavily to it was very recent. She walked over and asked, nervousness edging her voice, “What happened?!”  
Caramel snarled, “Under rules I have to ask where a wolf is going when I’m guarding camp at night. Thunder didn’t take that well, clawed my ear with his razor sharp claws and ran off into the woods.”  
“That’s… odd. I’ll go and see what’s wrong with him tonight.” She licked his ear, trying to clean away some of the blood bubbling at the wound. He flinched at the touch. “Bye Caramel,” she said before running off into the woods following the scent of Thunder.  
She ran through the dark forest. The leaves and grass glowed silver from the light of the half moon. Her breathing grew heavy, for it was harder to run because of her small size. She sniffed the air trying to smell which direction Thunder was going.  
The scent was very close and before she could realize she slammed into Thunder. His brown and gray splotchy fur had blended into the shadows. Azure crashed into into the grass. Thunder snarled at her, “Azure! What was that for!?”  
Azure stammered, “Sorry… I didn’t see you there…”  
Thunder retorted, “You’re always sorry! Why don’t you show it.”  
Azure whimpered, “Why are you so mad today?!”  
Thunder growled, “Look. I don’t want to talk about it..”  
She retorted, “I’m your friend! And supposed to be your mate! I deserve to know.”  
He pricked up at those words and growled, his yellow teeth glinting, “Leave me alone!”  
Azure stood her ground and he snarled and leaped at her. Before she could comprehend what was going on, she found herself slammed against the ground. Thunder was snarling at her, one of his paws pressed against her head. His other paw was pressed against her flank.   
The claw pressed against her stomach clenched and he lowered his head and dug his teeth into her flank. She could feel a sharp pain across her flank. She looked to see a large, deep gash across her flank. The blood had begun to stain her pelt, turning the milky white fur an eerie red. Thunder snarled at her. “Look, I would rather not have you in this. I have a lot on my mind so just leave me alone.”  
He placed his paws off her head and flank. She raised her head to see the wound more clearly. The red blood dripped down onto the grass, forming a small pool of blood. She looked up at Thunder who bounded off into the direction of the reapers camp. Her breathing grew faster for it was becoming an effort. A sharp bullet of pain hit her every time she took a breath.  
She glanced around, trying to find something to stop the bleeding. She spotted some cobwebs growing on a log a few feet away from her. Unable to stand she inched her way over. She scooped up a pawful of them and pressed it onto her wound. She winced at the pain but was glad to see it was working.  
The cobwebs were soaked with the blood, cleaning out the wound. She grabbed a few stray leaves and placed them on the wound so it wouldn’t get infected. She bound it together with some vines.  
She forced herself to her paws. She felt like collapsing but managed to stand. Shadow would be proud if she saw what I did.  
She began to walk slowly, making sure she placed every paw on the ground carefully, so she wouldn’t split open the wound any more. She suppressed a cry of pain at every step.  
After a little while of walking she reached the entrance of the reaper territory. She sniffed for a patrol. She smelled a patrol consisting of Dira, a wolf she knew named Mint, and an unfamiliar male wolf.  
She yowled out signaling her arrival. Dira burst through the bushes. “Thank goodness you arrive… Wait, what happened?!”  
She didn’t want to say Thunder for she didn’t know what would happen. So she simply replied, “Got attacked by a wolf. It’s okay.” Dira retorted, “Blood is soaking through the leaves! You need help!”  
Another wolf poked his head through. She couldn’t recognize him. He was pale gray with yellow eyes. He was bigger than Dira so she assumed he was an adult. “I can help. We need to get to the hollow so I can help her there.”  
“Thanks. That means a lot.”  
She leaned on the wolf. “My name is Wheat by the way.”  
As they passed, Mint poked her head through. She followed them. Azure asked, frustration edged in her voice “Who’s getting freaking chosen to get a mate?”  
“Sira. Thanks goodness since she’s royalty she can pick when she wants pups. But knowing her, she would want pups a little early on.”  
“What about you?”  
Dira replied coolly, “I talked to Haven earlier, He said that I would be chosen as heir. That means that I won’t have to have a mate or pups. I have free rein over what I want to do with my life. I don’t even want a mate. I guess one of Sira’s offspring will become Alpha of the reapers after I die.  
“Lucky you I guess. Thunder can be a bit of a bastard. He’s usually light-hearted but lately he’s been more grumpy. The concept is weird too. Being forced to get a mate at around six moons old and pups at a year old. I know reapers age twice as fast but still. I don’t want pups. We have enough reapers.”  
Dira sighed, “It’s tradition and older reapers don’t want to get rid of it so we can’t do anything about it. We’ll have to wait I guess.”  
She winced at saying that and pressed closer to Wheat. Her side wound bleeding harder. She whimpered under her breath. Dira glanced at her, worry in her expression. “Oh. I can help you after we get there.”  
She nodded and they continued walking. Dira fell behind Wheat and her to talk to Mint who was in the back. They were whispering quietly among themselves. Azure raised her head to see if she could smell anything.  
She faintly smelled moss and flowers in the distance, She tried to Identify some of them. She thought to herself, I suppose I could collect some herbs. I smell plenty of flowers and plants. Daisies, Roses, Tulips, Blackberries, Borage...  
` The scent was faint so it would be a little more walking before they even reached the forest. Wheat asked trying to end the silence, “So. What did the wolf that attacked you look like?”  
She looked up at him. She responded warily, “All I could see of them was that they were a large dark, muscular figure.”  
“Oh. It’s okay if you can’t remember. Just, keep your eye out for them.”  
She nodded and they continued walking. Her paw crackled under the grass. She looked down to see that the dirt and dust had begun to be covered in grass.  
“I guess we’re getting closer, Huh?” Azure asked.  
Mint replied, “Yeah. Not to far now.”  
She had to lean closer to Wheat to keep herself from falling. She looked up to see the moon was nearing its peak. Stars flickered across the sky shining brightly. She looked back to see Mint glancing around nervously. She advised them that they should start heading faster. Dira nodded, “It starts at the moon’s peak. Azure, can you at least run for a little bit.”  
She nodded. “The wound might open up again but I think I can run with help.”  
Dira broke into a run and Mint followed. Wheat began to run helping drag Azure along. As she ran, she could feel the wound open up wider once again. It felt like Thunder’s teeth had dug across her right side once again.  
She winced, seeing that Wheat was looking at her, concern filled in his large yellow eyes. She managed to rasp between breaths, “I’m… Fine.”  
They soon reached a dazzling forest, even in the night, it looked like the leaves were glistening yellow in the sunshine. The moon was still overhead, she knew it would reach its peak soon. Dira tried to put on a smile. “Hey we’re here!”  
They passed a tree and saw a clearing filled with flowers and sweet-smelling herbs. The wolves and half wolves were standing there. The young played in the flowers, covering themselves with it. Some of the female juveniles placed the flowers in their fur delicately. The male Juveniles threw dirt and flowers at others, making them fall into the river. The elder wolves sat together in groups, eating and gossiping. The rest sat around in silence, looking like they didn’t know what to do with their time.  
They walked to the river and wheat eased her down on a small patch of sand. She looked at the wound which had opened up again and the leaves that covered it had peeled, showing the blood staining it. She looked around and her ears flattened as she saw Thunder walking over to her.  
He stood beside her, head lowered so they made eye-contact. She expected him to leap at her but he started whimpering as if he felt guilty for his actions. “I’m sorry Azure… I’m sorry I hurt you… Is there anything I can do to help?”  
She wasn’t ready to forgive him but she could get her injury infected. She faintly smelled honey in the distance. “Well. I need to get oak leaves and honey to cover the wound and stop it from getting infected. Can you manage that?”  
He nodded and before he could walk away, she noticed a small scar at the bottom on his neck, slightly above where his heart would be. She remembered his battle with Caramel all those months back.  
She glanced around for anything that would help ease the pain. She couldn’t find anything but she saw a plant with a green stems with long, yellow buds. It looks like sedge. Shadow had told her that it was nicknamed sweet-sedge for its distinct smell.  
She noticed how strong the smell was and bit down into the stem since it was close enough to be in biting distance. She let the sweet sedge sap drip down onto her tongue and let herself swallow. It was indeed how it helped ease any infection or helped prevent one.  
She lowered her head on the sandy ground. It felt comfortable on her head which was pounding hard from the walking and loss of blood. The blood that had dripped onto the sand had begun to dry.  
She looked around to see if anyone noticed. A few wolves looked at her at the edges of their vision but seemed like that everything was under control. She sighed, They’ve seen a lot.  
She saw Thunder return in the clearing covered in leaves and was holding a bit of honeycomb in his jaws. They made eye contact and he ran over. He dropped the honeycomb and tried to paw the honey that apparently was on his fur.  
She murmured, “Thank you.” She was finding it hard to muster the strength the speak.  
He nodded and helped her place the leaves on the wound, and using the honey to keep it in place. They were quickly interrupted by the leader Haven, sending a howl into the clearing.  
She flicked her ears in the Alpha wolves direction to signify to Thunder that she was listening to the wolf, even though she had to admit to herself that she truly didn’t care and was trying to sleep.  
She hadn’t slept well for so long that she just needed to sleep. In her half-asleep daze, she was surprised that he was only talking for a short period of time before stepping down from the ledge was standing on. She didn’t remember her for she was a little sick and was exhausted from walking because she was very short back then. She laughed to herself quietly and tried to go back to sleep. She quickly glanced at her wound and was glad that it was healing nicely and very quickly. One of the perks about being a reaper is that you grow quicker and wounds heal a lot better and quicker too. She was glad Thunder’s little outburst wouldn’t leave her forever injured and it hadn’t been deep enough to kill.  
Azure was glad to wake up from a dreamless sleep. She opened her eyes to see that Thunder was carrying her back to camp, the territory was beginning to light up with the pre-dawn light. He looked at her as she began to stir. His face was streaked with dirt. She blinked at him, confused.  
He chuckled, “You fell asleep. Damn, you must have been tired. After you fell asleep a bunch of the younger wolves tossed dirt and bits of flowers at me.”  
“But Why?”  
“Apparently it was some sort of game.” As he continued he began to laugh. “Evergreen accidently just threw a bunch of petals at me instead of dirt and then a random female wolf yelled, that he was stupid and…” He couldn’t stop himself from laughing.  
She was on his back so she slipped off and took a look at her scar. It had nearly healed but it would leave a mark. She was laughing too at the story as well.  
“What will we tell the pack.”  
“We can say that we were out hunting. Some of us hunt at night so it’s understandable, and we were attacked by a random lone wolf. You got a scar but it’s already healed and I got thrown into a bunch of dirt so that’s why I’m so messy.”  
Azure took a moment to breathe, “Well I guess that would work, it makes sense too. Let’s get home.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PAGE COUNT - 13  
> We meet one of the packs and are told about another.  
> Also Sunrise has puppies.  
> Azure has siblings yay

Thunder looked at Swift, she was glaring at him with cold eyes. “Why were you out so late? It’s dangerous out there! The rival pack is getting more and more aggressive!”  
He sighed, “I was out with Azure hunting. Haven’t you noticed that prey isn’t as abundant as it normally is?”  
She pondered this for a moment and then nodded. “We thought that prey would be easier to find when it was cooler. We didn’t find any but a rogue wolf attacked us. I was unhurt but Azure got a small wound. We patched up the wound and returned back to camp.”  
Azure padded out from behind him showing the scar on her stomach where he had truly clawed her under an impulse of anger. It had healed nicely and looked like the claw had run down her stomach but wasn’t deep.  
Swiftness nodded. “Well then, at least you fought off an intruder. You can relax for the morning Thunder. You’re going on the hunting party later today around the lake at the back of our territory, and sorry Azure, I have no control on what Shadow is going to make you do.” Azure rolled her eyes and laughed. She padded off to the healers den.  
He padded off to the prey pile. He had noticed the dwindling prey so he settled for a fish. Star and Arrow mentioned they came from a mostly fishing wolf pack. They caught fish. Some enjoyed it, like him, but most despised how slimy it was. _They’re missing out!_  
He spotted Azure quickly rushing out of the camp. He asked, “Where are you going?”  
Azure stopped and responded, “Sunrise is going to have her pups soon, we need herbs.”  
He nodded and continued to tear into the fish. Sparkling scales littered the area, sparkling in the dawn light. Wolves had begun to walk around camp trying to prepare for the day. Copper, Gold, and Silver, and Bronze, the four siblings, walked over and tried to haul a deer that was caught by them last night. A deer had darted in front of him, followed by them when he was walking to the other camp in the night. _Looks like they caught it._  
They started fighting over it. They had always been rivals, as in a sibling rivalry. They may have been older by a few months, but they still bickered like tiny pups. Gold growled, “Well I’m the oldest! I should get first bite.”  
While that was happening Silver snuck over and began to eat. Bronze grabbed her tail and dragged her back. She howled in surprise. Gold and Copper turned. Bronze was very abrasive and a huge brat.  
The others were play-arguing in a sense. Bronze was always the one who took it too far. The two started growling at him and he backed away. The three stopped their fighting and began to eat. Bronze watched them, lifting his nose up to them as if he didn’t care but he wasn’t fooling anyone. Thunder decided to back away so he wounded get pulled into one of their arguments.  
He decided to enjoy the nice sun with one of his friends, Apple. He was the father of Caramel but he was nice even though he didn’t like Caramel.  
He walked over to Apple who had just exited the den. “Good morning Apple!”  
Apple replied with a long yawn. He glanced at him, his eyes still hazy and blurry from the grasp of sleep. “Ugh. I was awoken by their bickering… again.”  
He chuckled. Well, you better ask what patrol you are on today. Swift will drive you nuts if you miss your patrol!”  
He laughed, “Alright… Alright! I will.” He trotted off, still blinking sleep from his eyes. He padded into the group of wolves that circled the lean wolf, Swift. The Alpha, Banji walked out of his den.  
He decided to sit on a flat stone near the edge of camp. It was nice for when trying to relax and chat. He wanted to go out now to get hunting over with but he realized how tired he was. He curled up, dozing off on the stone, warming up as the sun’s rays hit the cold surface.  
He flicked his ears in the direction of wolves trotting away from the group of wolves. Apple barked playfully, “I leave you for one minute and you're already asleep!”  
“What patrol did you get?” He asked sleepily.  
“We have few hunters, so everyone’s either on the evening Patrol to mark the eastern border where the dead trees are, or the afternoon hunting patrol at the southern lake. Almost everyone is going to the southern lake. Including me, Copper, Gold, Silver, Arrow, Star, you, and Ash.”  
“Ash?” He asked curiously. “Isn’t he sick?”  
“Yes, but Shadow says it will be good for his lungs to get some fresh air. He’s never been a strong wolf. Also, you have noticed prey isn’t running as well as it normally is at this time of year. It isn’t critical, but extra paws would be useful.”  
He laughed. “Yeah! I don’t want to be working my ass off all the time!”  
Apple looked over at the heap of prey under the tree. He turned back to him. “I’m going to get some prey. I don’t want to go hungry while hunting.” He turned away and briskly walked over to the pile of prey.  
Silver, Gold, and Copper had left, leaving Bronze to eat the rest. All three of the wolves were bulky from never having to go hungry. So, Bronze was left with meager pickings. He saw the glimmer of one of the small fish Star would catch.  
Thunder looked at the sun which was still rising over tall trees. The day was cloudy and perhaps a bit of rain might come. He didn’t care at this point as exhaustion gripped him. He had rested a little bit last night but he had to get up early to retrieve Azure.  
He decided to rest his eyes, hoping the sun would warm him up from the cool night. He thought about the events that might occur during the day in his half daze of trying to stay conscious.  
He must have fallen asleep at one point for he was awoken at a wolf prodding him awake. He lifted his head sleepily. It was Silver glaring at him with her blind, unseeing eyes. There was something menacing about it. He shook his head to try to wake up quicker.  
Thunder looked at her again. He looked over at the sky, He saw that it must be midday through the clouds.  
Silver barked, “Yeah. It’s midday. Get up.” He looked back at her. He said, still sounding tired, “Okay. I’ll get up.”  
He stood up and stretched. He was glad to get some sleep since both him and Azure practically never slept. But, at the group meeting they said that there will be three sunrises where you won’t have to attend the group at night.  
He was glad that soon he could catch up on sleep soon but first, he had to hunt. He stretched and trotted over to the large group gathering around the entrance. Copper rolled his eyes, “Finally!”  
Ash was sitting at the entrance. His eyes dull and and sunken from sickness. Ash was sitting beside Gold, trying to assure her that he would be okay. Concern filling Gold’s clear, green eyes. Ash brushed her off and glanced at the entrance. Ash ordered in a hoarse voice, “Come on…” He was interrupted by coughing. “Let's go.”  
The other wolves looked at him in concern as he disappeared behind the entrance consisting of brambles, bushes, and leaves. His long, flag-like tail flashed between the brambles behind him, giving away that he was agitated with the group already. _Is there something they aren’t telling me?_  
Copper whispered to him.”You would think he should be more mature.”  
Thunder looked at him and tried to stifle a laugh. He whispered back to Ash wouldn’t hear him. “Yeah! He’s one of the older pack members! He does have a pup and he acts like a pup!”  
Him and Copper were in the back of the group as they headed toward the lake. He thought to himself, _The lake is huge! I was there as a young pup. It is in the south area of their territory. Our territory is big!_  
Gold was still following Ash who was at the front of the group with Arrow. Star and Silver were in the middle talking. Arrow stopped and called over to them since he had walked a little ahead. “We’re here!”  
He was at the top of a slope. Ash followed, He looked down at them followed by Gold. Star helped Silver up the slope and then they disappeared down the slope that lead to the lake. Copper followed and lastly, Thunder.  
The lake was more dazzling than he remembered. The water was a dazzling blue. The rim of the lake was edged with soft yellow sand. He could even see silver flickers of fish underneath the surface. In the distance he saw mountains with gray and brown rocks. He was told that wolves inhabited that area but it was hard to believe that any wolf would want to live in a barren area when a forest was nearby.  
He was at the top of a very small hill that was only a few wolf-lengths long. He trotted down and looked around. No prey was around but it wafted in the air like it had recently been caught. Arrow ordered, “Alright. If anyone wants to learn how to fish, you can join me and Star. Otherwise you can hunt the birds around. There are many seagulls around and grouses.”  
Gold joined Star along with Ash and the others stayed where they were standing, along with him. He liked the taste of fish but didn’t like swimming or getting his paws wet. He looked at Copper and Silver. Silver offered, “Let’s go and hunt some seagulls I guess.”  
Thunder replied, “What else is there to do?”  
Copper replied, “Not much so why not?”  
The trio of them headed back up the slope and went to the safety of the trees nearby. They made sure to keep the shore in sight between the trees. Copper stopped in his tracks. “I smell a dead animal. It’s a bird but I can smell blood.”  
Silver nodded. “Yeah.” She turned to the right and looked around. Her tail straightened signifying she had found the source.  
Copper and Thunder glanced at each other before stepping forward. A seagull was lying in a small clearing, it’s neck looked chewed out and blood streaked the ground, as if it had been dragged to where it was. Gold wondered out loud. “It looks like a wolf did it. But there aren’t any wolves living here. Are there?”  
Copper shrugged his shoulders and sniffed at it and pawed at it sending a few loose feathers off into the sky. Thunder flicked his ears in surprise as he heard a rustle of the leaves that wasn’t from one of his packmates.  
He heard a low growl and everyone glanced in the direction of the growl. Suddenly a hazel colored wolf leaped at him, pinning him to the ground. He blinked in surprise and saw that the wolf had darker spots on her fur with a cream colored underbelly. She had stunning Jade green eyes.  
She snapped in a commanding tone. “State your purpose.”  
Thunder growled and bared his teeth. But before he could bite, he was interrupted by a curious bark, “Copper? Is that you?”  
A rustle from the bushes to the left caught his eye and a pale gray she-wolf appeared. Silver asked exasperated. “Copper. Explain Please.”  
The hazel wolf let go of him making him able to stand up. He sat up and shook strands of grass out of his short fur. The hazel she-wolf snapped at the other. “Well, I guess since you know these wolves, would you care to explain?”  
The wolf nodded. “I met Copper a little while back. About a month ago. We’ve been talking for a while. He’s a friend of mine.”  
Silver gave Copper a glare, most likely for not telling anybody, he guessed. Copper slunk back from all the eyes on him. He was a brave wolf but any wolf would be scared if every wolf’s eyes were on him.  
The hazel wolf sighed. “Well, we might as well take you to your camp. No harm will be brought to your group. You two should just probably discuss this with our Alpha. Is there anyone else with you?”  
Silver responded, “Yes, they are fishing by the lake.”  
The hazel wolf grumbled, “Oh, and by the way, my name is Willow.”  
The silver wolf chimed in. “My name is Nutmeg! I know who Copper is, and Silver. But I don’t know who you are.” She looked at him. “What’s your name?”  
He responded still trying to get the dirt out of his fur. “I’m Thunder.”  
Willow insisted. “Well, since we are all acquainted, should we leave?”  
Nutmeg nodded and they followed Willow and Nutmeg. Copper tried walking over to Nutmeg to talk but got stopped by Willow who snapped at him. He walked back to them his head hung low. He looked at Silver and they laughed. After that, they walked in silence the rest of the way to Nutmeg and Willow’s camp.  
They reached a group of dense thickets. He looked at it, blinking in confusion. They had stopped in front of it. Then he realised, There must be an entrance!  
He saw that Willow was walking over to the thicket and looked like she was going to walk right into the thicket. But she turned right and disappeared behind the thicket. Copper wondered. “Wait… did she just disappear into the thicket?”  
Nutmeg laughed. “No. There are two layers of the thickets to give off the effect that there is no entrance.”  
Silver muttered. “I still don’t get it.”  
Nutmeg rolled her eyes. “Just follow me.”  
She stepped in front of the thicket. She looked to the right and nudged the thicket and disappeared behind it. He understood. _They have an entrance but they have another wall of thicket so it appears as if there is no entrance! Clever!_  
Thunder followed and understanding registered on Copper’s face. Thunder explained how it worked to Silver since she couldn’t see it for herself. She was blind after all.  
The three trotted inside, following Nutmeg. After walking through a few wolf-lengths, they spotted a clearing which a group of wolves were congregating.  
Willow must have told the wolves what was going on since she was surrounded by all of them in a semicircle. As they entered a few of them turned while others muttered to each other in hushed voices. A wolf cried out in a commanding tone, “Everyone, please return back to your normal activities! Me, Willow, and Nutmeg will deal with the situation!”  
A few nodded and returned to their dens. Still, some looked apprehensive and continued to talk to one another. He couldn’t hear much but he distinctly heard someone wonder. “Why would they be here? They’re probably looking for a fight.”  
The wolf who had cried out was standing with Willow in the center of the camp. He was Auburn colored with distinct yellow eyes and surprisingly big. Although he loomed over most of the wolves, he looked friendly and someone you would want to sit down with and have a nice chat with for the day.”  
The wolf didn’t seem aggressive in any way. He greeted the three of them with a curt nod. “Greetings. Willow made us well aware of your presence. My name is Lupine.” He pointed to Thunder. “I assume you are Thunder and your friends are Copper and Silver?”  
He replied a little bit of edge of to his voice. “Yes,” Since he didn’t want to be here.  
“Well… I suppose we can talk in my den. Follow me.”  
They followed him to a hole in the stone walls that surrounded half of the camp. It was elevated a little so rocks and pebbles had been placed in front as steps to reach up to the crevice in the wall.  
He walked up the pebble stairway and entered. He realised that it was very small and simplistic. It had space enough for five or six wolves and had a small bed of grass in the back.  
He sat down in at one of the sides closest to the entrance as Willow walked in. He was suspicious of the untrusting she-wolf. Lupin gave them a warm smile and sat down in his bedding.  
“So. I don’t want to have you three troubled by our presence here. Are you three just a small wandering group?”  
Thunder replied, “We are in a wolf pack that has been living her for a couple of years. Why haven’t you noticed that?” snapping at the wolf.  
“Woah Woah woah… calm down kid! Why are you all of the sudden so angry?”  
Thunder rolled his eyes but remained silent this time. Silver explained to Lupin. “He is right. Although I apologize for his tone.”  
Willow growled. “So… you’re from the group that has come terrorizing our group and attacked us yesterday?”  
Thunder looked up shock filling his orange eyes. “You mean the group that is lead by that white wolf with blue eyes?” _And my father,_ he added to himself.  
His father was an ambitious, merciless wolf who killed Thunder’s mother so he could be taken to his pack to be trained to be the next Alpha. Shockingly enough his father was named Alpha since he was the one who created the pack.  
Lupine growled, “Yes. That white and blue wolf dragged his wolves to the camp and they attacked. Luckily no one was hurt too badly. But they scared the little ones very badly. I assume you are in that pack?”  
Silver retorted, “Hell No! In fact, they’ve been attacking our pack for about a year now!”  
Lupine smiled. “Well, good. When that pack retreated, they said that they would attack another pack in a few days.”  
Thunder grumbled. “That means us.”  
Lupine nodded. “That’s what I would think. Perhaps we can help you and help us in return?”  
Silver chimed in. “We would need our Alpha’s permission for that.”  
“Indeed. Perhaps me and your Alpha could discuss it tomorrow night? At the lake?”  
Copper replied, “That sounds great. Although we better be going home.”  
“Yeah, you three can go home.” Willow tried to speak but got cut off. “And I don’t think I need to worry about you three stealing anything. So I don’t think you will need guards.”  
Willow retorted. “But sir! You don’t know them! Who knows what their true intent is!”  
Thunder laughed, “I’m right here!”  
Lupine rolled his eyes. “Fine. You can keep an eye on them but it’s really nothing.  
Willow looked pleased with herself. She ushered the three out of the den and out of camp. Thunder whispered to Copper. “Weird. She’s so intent on getting us out of here.”  
Time flew by very quickly as they walked through the forest. Once they saw the lake Willow flicked her tail and ran back in the direction of the camp.  
Thunder spotted a dead grouse nearby. Nutmeg was sitting beside it. She must had followed them. She kicked the bird in their direction. “You have it. Our pack is fine. Besides, it’s customary for packs to treat their visitors with prey, but that didn’t happen today.”  
He sat down and placed it between his paws. “Thanks…” he muttered.  
He began to eat it. He sank his teeth down and was surprised from how good it tasted. His teeth met blood and ripped off a bite. He chewed and swallowed it before saying, “This is amazing! Copper and Silver, Try some!”  
Copper and Silver both took bites, which nearly depleted the bird but Silver and Copper smiled. “Impressive! We should hunt in this area more often!”  
Nutmeg chuckled. “I better be going back to camp. See you three later!”  
“Bye!” They all said in unison.  
Thunder took the last few bites as Copper and Gold struggled to grab it in their jaws. They managed to get a few bites in, but Thunder dominated the bird. When the bird was nothing but bones and feathers, they stood up, cleaned the blood of their jaws and went in search of the rest of the group.  
They saw the group at the edge of the lake, still fishing but even from this distance, he could smell the fish scent reeking off of their pelts.  
They trotted over and Ash flicked his ears and looked up. “You’re back! We thought you were kidnapped!”  
The others turned. Star giggled. “I told you Gold! They would come back!”  
Thunder laughed. “Did you actually think that?!”  
Gold looked away in embarrassment. “Yeah… I did. What happened?”  
Thunder explained the whole situation  
Arrow barked. “That explains a lot. Did you catch anything?”  
Silver replied. “No, but we got to eat a grouse. Just a small note, they are absolutely delicious!”  
Arrow smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind. But at least we caught some fish. Do you mind carrying a couple?”  
Thunder nodded and looked at the pile. He picked up two Trench fish. They fit in his jaws and the others followed. Star held a pawful of minnow while the rest carried one or two trenches. They trotted back to camp with the bounty of today’s hunt in their jaws.  
They headed back wordlessly and while the rest walked to the prey pile, Azure bolted over. She looked distressed and exhausted. He dropped his fish. “W-what is it?!”  
Azure uttered between breaths, “Sunrise is having her pups!”  
Thunder asked. “Is there anything I could do?”  
Azure responded, “Y-yes. She needs her strength so can I have those two fish?”  
Thunder nodded and Azure scooped them off the ground and bounded toward the den where Sunrise slept.  
Thunder started to walk over, curious about the situation. Azure growled, “Can you stay out? I need to focus! I don’t know what I’m doing!”  
Thunder remembered how she was still a young wolf who had far from finishing her training of becoming a full healer.  
He heard Sunrise bark, “I assure you, I’m fine.” Her voice was sweet but an edge of pain was in her voice.  
Thunder didn’t know what to say or feel so he just trotted off. As he left. He saw Shadow had entered camp. He trotted over. He reported, “Sunrise is giving birth!”  
Shadow eyes widened, “Really? The one time I’m gone it Happens! How is she?”  
Thunder tried to reassure her, “Sunrise is doing fine. Although Azure had no clue what she is doing.”  
Shadow rolled her eyes but briskly ran into the nursery. Thunder decided to rest since he wouldn’t have to leave tonight. He decided not to eat and just head right to bed. He could get up and eat at any time anyway. He trotted over to the tiny rock cave underneath the bush. He curled up by some rocks and closed his eyes immediately drifting off into sleep. He vaguely remembered the meeting with the other pack and hoped someone else would tell the alpha before drifting to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PAGE COUNT - 4  
> This is one of the shortest chapters but this is more of an explanation chapter.

Caramel sat beside one of the many streams inside the territory. He gazed at his reflection through the clear, rippling, liquid. His white fur was messy and tangled with scars around his ears and muzzle.  
He heard the rustle of leaves behind him and he turned around wildly. “Who’s there?!” He called out into the darkness behind him. The sun was setting so he couldn’t see that far into the shaded trees.  
A wolf that he recognised came out of the darkness making leaves fly as she moved. He growled. “What are you doing here, Azure?”  
Azure replied. “I need to talk to you Caramel. And rationally. Please?”  
Caramel looked back at the water but Azure started talking. “Look, I need some explaining to do.”  
Caramel growled, “Why do you care about me all of the sudden?!”  
Azure growled and leaped at him, pinning him to the ground. “Just listen to me God-dammit!”  
He replied passive-aggressively, “If you let me go, I might decide to listen.”  
Azure let out a sigh of exasperation and stepped off of Caramel. He got up and started cleaning his ruffled fur from the encounter.  
Azure sighed. “Look, Caramel, the thing is, is that I’m not like ordinary wolves.”  
Caramel looked at her, confused, “What do you mean?”  
Azure started to explain, “So…. you know about those pup-tales about the spirit-wolves?”  
Caramel nodded, confused, “Yeah…? With the spirits? The good and evil ones who control where wolves go when they die. They chose which afterlife wolves go to and if you’re bad you get sent to one of the bad ones. That’s the only one I remember.”  
Azure nodded, “They called themselves reapers. But in fact… **they’re real...**  
Caramel stepped back, surprised. “What do you mean?! They were just a pup’s tale to make sure their pups are good!”  
Azure shook her head, “No. In fact, they are wolves with special abilities. Mostly, wolves are born with it from their parents… but sometimes, they give wolves the powers who die at a young age to bring them back to life. I’m a reaper wolf. I died a few days after I was born! Didn’t anyone find it strange that I was the only one who lived!?”  
Azure was trembling. Caramel didn’t want to ask more but he insisted, “You’re lying…”  
Azure howled, “I wish I was! I hate it!”  
Azure was trembling to badly to stand and she fell to the ground. She whimpered, “I’m afraid of death and I basically have to kill wolves a second time! And female wolves in reaper tribes are forced to have pups at a young age since we grow faster and it’s tradition! It’s stupid and scary!” She paused and tried standing but howled, “I wish I had just died!”  
She was whimpering too terribly to keep speaking. Caramel could barely process it. But he ran over and tried to comfort her. He sat beside her and tried nuzzling her shoulder affectionately. Her breathing which was fast began to slow.  
She whimpered, “Thanks.” She nudged him with her nose, “I’m glad I could talk to you. It’s just… I have to go and visit their camp during the night and it’s stressful and exhausting. This is why I leave during the night.”  
Caramel wanted to ask more but he knew that this was a bad time. He asked, “Do you think you’re ready to go back to camp? Or go to the uhh… reaper camp? It’s nearly sunset.”  
Azure nodded. “I don’t have to go for the next couple of days so I’m gonna catch up on sleep.”  
Caramel nodded. “Could I actually walk with you though? I need to get back to camp anyway. It’s almost night.”  
She nodded looking relieved. He stood up and they walked together through the forest. He felt relieved to walk with his friend. He formerly had a crush on her until he became omega for attacking Thunder. But he was willing to be beside his friend once more since this seemed like something scary and overwhelming for her.  
Caramel asked, “How does no one else know about this?”  
“Well… no. They’ll think i’m crazy. Thunder is another reaper wolf. He like it better than I do and he doesn’t really like it do begin with.”  
“This sounds all fake… But I can tell you’re telling the truth.”  
She chuckled. “Even If I tried, you would see through it. I just needed to tell someone. And you are my best friend, so, I thought you were the wolf that I could trust the most to keep it secret. Can we stop talking about this? I’m tired and I just want to rest.”  
Caramel remembered something. As a young pup he found a cave system underground that even after the earthquake a year ago, it remained there. “First… do you want to see something cool?”  
“W-what?”  
“Follow me!” as he signalled with his tail for her to follow.  
He bounded off into the forest heading towards the river He looked behind him to see Azure right on his tail. _Wow! She may be small but she can run!_  
He skidded to a halt once he hit the pebble bank of the river. Pebbles flew into the river which caught the remaining lights of the sun which had nearly hid behind the mountains in the distance. He started to trot over a crevice in a pile of boulders that he could just about squeeze through.  
Once he entered he was greeted with a tunnel system. He started inching through the tunnels until he met an area where it split off into two sections. The right led to their former camp in a small cave which had two entrances, the main being blocked off. The left lead to the place he wanted to show Azure. He glanced behind himself and saw Azure having enough space to stand behind him.  
He turned left and immediately started gaining space to move around and stand. After a few wolf-lengths of walking, they entered a massive cavern. He used to play here by himself. It was a cavern in which ledges lined the sides with a tiny waterfall-like stream, letting in light and poured down on the other side of the cavern.  
Azure’s eyes lit up at the wondrous sight of the beautiful cavern. She breathed, “It’s beautiful!”   
Caramel lay down on a flat rock which he would sleep. “Do you want to hang out here? Bronze has my guard duties tonight.”  
“Sure!”  
Azure walked over to where he was sitting on a rock and curled up beside the rock, her back pressed against it. She murmured, obviously tired, “How did you find this place?”  
Caramel replied, “When Rosy died I was told to help Hurricane retrieve her body. I found this on the way there. Before I became omega I would hang out where when I wanted to avoid my duties.”  
Azure complained, “I’m so tired I can just pass out right here.”  
Caramel snickered, “You know you just could.”  
Azure dug her face into her paws, “You know what. I will. Goodnight Caramel.”  
Caramel laughed and Azure quickly passed out. He wasn’t tired so he just sat, watching the tiny trickle of water that pooled in a pond-like crevice in the cave.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PAGE COUNT - 9  
> Meeting with the other pack... again

Azure stared at the moon. Another day had passed and after the patrol had said that a rivaling pack would like to speak with them by the lake. Banji stated that since she was another pack official that she should come as well as Swift. Shadow had to stay back to take care of Sunrise.  
Azure was frustrated since she had to work all day and they had to leave at midnight. _It’s not like I already spend every day leaving in the middle of the night to the reaper camp._  
Her paws dragged across the ground as she followed Banji and Swift. She was ready to pass out on the soft grass. Her eyes felt as if stones had been attached to her eyelids as she walked.  
She didn’t quite remember most of the walk since It blurred into a mesh of darkness. She could think clearly again once they reached the lake where they agreed to meet this mysterious pack. She started to feel nervous as she spotted two wolves sitting by the lake. They were staring at the lake. They started walking over and the larger one out of the two turned. He grinned at them. He was a large auburn colored wolf. He surprisingly looked quite friendly.  
“Greetings! I assume you are Banji?” He looked at Banji.  
Banji Seemed stunned for a moment but then nodded. “Yes, and these two are my Beta and Healer apprentice, Swift and Azure. ”  
Lupine nodded at Her and Swift and then looked back at Banji. “Good, I’m Lupine, and This is my Beta, Willow, and my Healer, Nutmeg. Well, we might as well get started. A large, mysterious pack, has attacked our pack and someone overheard them saying they were targeting another.  
“Really?”  
“Indeed. The wolf stated that the other wolf said, ‘Save your energy Artemis, We will be attacking The Pack of Branches soon. The Pack of the Waterfall needs strong Fighters to help in this battle.’”  
“The Pack of the Waterfall is the pack that attacked you… our Pack is the pack of Branches.” Swiftness said matter-of-factly.  
Lupine asked, “Perhaps we can help each other? We currently are struggling with not having enough Hunters to provide for our growing pack. Perhaps you could send a few of your hunters to fill our empty spots, temporarily. But in the meantime we could help your pack out with this pack attacking yours.”  
Banji considered this. “Perhaps. It’s sounds fair… but how many hunters would you need?”  
“Two or three would be just fine. We aren’t absolutely starving to death but we can’t get as much food as we would want.”  
“Well then… we could send you our Wolves Star and Arrow, They are good fishers but can hunt land prey.”  
The wolf Nutmeg looked at Lupine, “I think this sounds fair.”  
Willow replied, “I agree.”  
Swiftness also nodded and Azure hesitantly nodded. Lupine finished with, “Good. We shall arrive around noon to sunset. It was nice to meet your pack! Let’s hope the best for both of us.” before bounding off into the woods with his packmates.  
Swiftness flicked her tail impatiently, “Come on lets go guys!”  
They trotted off into the woods and her exhaustion caught up to herself and she yawned often while walking back. At one point Swift snapped at her telling her to stop.  
“God Dammit! Will you stop?!”  
“I’m just tired Swift. I haven’t slept for a while!”  
Swift growled to herself and they walked in silence all the way back. Next thing she could remember, she was curled up in a mossy nest. Afterwards, she blacked out from exhaustion.  
Azure woke up with a start. She heard her mentor, Shadow growling at her. She snapped, “How lazy are you?! It’s the middle of the day!”   
Azure sarcastically snapped back in retaliation, “Well sorry I was forced to stay up all night!”   
Azure dug her head in her paws trying to ignore her. All she wanted was to sleep. Her limbs felt as if they had been turned to mush. She was that tired. Shadows words were muffled as she pressed her ears against her head.   
As she tried to get back to sleep she heard her mentor say in an exasperated tone. “Fine, if you want to sleep, go ahead. But I won’t let you have any of this rabbit I found in the prey pile.”   
That made her ears perk up. Shadow knew well that she loved the taste of rabbit. It was her favorite prey item in the world!   
She forced herself to stand up. Her legs felt shaky and weak but she managed to haul herself out of the soft bed of moss and walk over. She felt dizzy due to her lack of sleep, but she didn’t care. She headed over but Shadow said to her, “Well since you’re out of bed, you have to check up on Ash before you can eat.”   
Azure groaned in frustration. “Fine!” Before she trotted out of the wolf den.   
She headed over to the other side of camp and spotted Ash sitting by a tree stump talking to some of the other wolves. She couldn’t quite tell from the distance who they were but she could recognize their scents as other packmates.   
She walked across the clearing, getting dirt and grass between her claws as she walked and nodded as a greeting to Ash.   
Azure asked, “How are you feeling? You’re cough was really bad yesterday?”   
Ash turned away from his friends which she could clearly see were Copper and Arrow. He gave her a warm smile and replied calmly, “It’s been much better. Going outside yesterday really helped ease the cough. Also I learned some fishing skills so honestly it was just generally better!”   
Azure laughed, “Hah! You didn’t have to tell me all of that but I’m glad you had a good time yesterday! Heh, Shadow was making me ask if you were fine before I could get something to eat.”   
“Well now you can get your favorite, rabbits! I did see Shadow grab one this morning and drag it back to the healers den. Also, that sounds like her. She may have a soft spot for you after what happened with Hurricane but she is still rude to all of us!”   
Azure chuckled before bolting off off accidently flinging grass in dirt in the direction behind her. She heard Arrow yowl in disgust as he got a bunch of dirt in his mouth. Azure assumed that perhaps running would make herself feel awake.   
She trotted off and lowered her head to enter into the healers den under the tree. She walked over to Shadow. She said briefly towards her mentor, “Ash says he’s doing fine. And it looks like it anyways. Now can I please have the rabbit?!”   
Shadow rolled her eyes, “Fine. You can have it. But you still have to work some more today. That can’t be it… that was absolutely nothing!”   
Azure nodded, although she didn’t want to since she was still very tired. But she tore at the rabbit’s flesh sinking her teeth in a tearing off a chunk of the meat. She started chewing the part of meat and swallowed it. Blood dripping from her muzzle as she dug in for more of the small creature.   
Shadow watched her. “Well, the first thing that needs to be done is checking up on Silver. On the morning patrol she fell and hit her paw on a bunch of thistles. She just got back. That should be the first thing you do.”   
“Okay! I’m going to have thorns stuck in my paws though!”   
“Fine by me! It’s just part of being a healer!”   
She finished up her meal as quick as possible, just wanting to get the day over with. Afterwards she made a small hole to place the bones in. She took the bones and buried them so they wouldn’t get in the way. She headed over towards where she saw Silver sitting extending her paw out to not injure it any more than it was.   
Azure walked over. Although Silver was blind she seemed to know that Azure had come. She looked at her and said, “Hey Azure!” She laughed a little, “I don’t know how I didn’t see that bush of Thistles coming! That seems like the ironic thing that would happen to me!”   
Azure laughed, “Well, I still have to get all of those thorns out. How did you manage to get through the entire patrol with so many thorns in your paw?”   
Azure fastened her teeth onto one of the thorns and started plucking them out with ease. Every time a thorn came out, she saw Silver wince as she put a tiny bit of cobweb on it to ease the bleeding. Although Silver decided to talk about the patrol.   
“I didn’t catch anything but Gold managed to catch an entire deer with Arrow’s Help!”   
Azure replied, “Wow! Ever since Arrow joined the pack, he’s been a huge help! I wonder where he got all of his skill when it came to hunting.” Azure had to stop to pluck out the last of the thorns. “Well, I got out all the thorns, rest your paw for the rest of the day and try to not get anything in it. I’ll add some Marigold juice onto the wound to reduce the chance of infection.”   
“Thanks Azure! I can tell you are going to end up being an amazing healer with many capabilities!”   
“Aw, thanks!” Azure couldn’t help but blush a bit.  
Azure chewed up some Marigold leaves to separate the leaves and petals from the liquid which had healing properties. She put some of it onto a leaf and pushed it towards Silver. She proceeded to wrap the paw in the leaf to keep the Marigold Mixture on.   
She winced, “Ow! That stings!”   
Azure retorted, “Well if you didn’t put that on, there would be even more pain!”   
Silver laughed and stood up. She made sure to keep her paw up so the leaf wouldn’t tear up. She walked off and lastly called back, “Thanks Azure!”   
Instead of walking back to Shadow who had walked off to more than likely went out to collect herbs she decided to just curl up and rest her eyes. She preferred not to work that day due to her exhaustion and was ready to get as much sleep as possible!   
She closed her eyes for a minute but then was interrupted by someone. “Azure? You Awake?”   
She recognized the voice and looked up. As she had expected, it was Caramel. “Caramel! How are you?”   
Azure smiled, “Fine, a little tired from last night.”   
“Aren’t those wolves coming later today?”   
“Yeah, I think at Sunset. They will probably start leaving their camp in an hour or so.”   
“Okay, but that wasn’t the only thing I wanted to talk about.”   
“Well? What is it?”   
“Remember what you told me two nights ago? I want to know more.”   
“Well, I don’t think right now is a good time. Besides, you have duties to perform right now. Maybe later today or tonight. We can talk about something else if you like?”   
“Well, Sunrise’s new pups already look like they are going to be a pain to deal with! I saw them earlier today and they were supposed to be sleeping but even though they are a few days old, they are trying to escape the den and Sunrise is having a hard time sleeping because of them!”   
“Really! Hah! I mean, there only a day or two old! There are three of them but still! If I recall correctly, their names are Icarus, Hail, and Teardrop. They’re really cute! I should visit them again.”   
Azure smiled but then she caught the scent of another wolf. She distinctly smelled the scent of Thunder. He had been trying to be friendly with her but it wasn’t really working. He had been overprotective recently.   
She heard him growl, “Caramel! Get away from her!”   
Caramel whipped his head around just to see Thunder swinging his claws in his face. He pinned Caramel to the ground, “You know Azure’s mine! Now Run!”   
Caramel opened his mouth to protest but then sighed and ran off. Azure rolled her eyes. Thunder turned to face her. “You know he’s bad and besides, you're my Mate, remember?”   
Azure muttered, “Yeah. How could I forget?” She retorted to him more loudly, “Well he’s not a bad wolf, and we’re just friends! I can have male wolf friends, right?”   
Thunder snapped back at her, the fur on his neck rising in aggression, “Well you used to like him! Shouldn’t I be a little concerned about what’s going on between the two of you?”   
“Gosh you are so overprotective! Can you just shut up and leave! I have more important things to do than waste my time arguing with you!”   
Thunder snapped back becoming more defensive, “But you had enough time to talk with him!”   
Azure snarled but instead of lunging at him, she bounded off dodging him even though he blocked the way. Thunder whipped around confused but once he comprehended what happened, she heard him yelling at the entrance to the den, “Hey! Come back here!”   
As she ran off and through the entrance she felt a wave of satisfaction for some reason. He was been hard to tolerate whenever he decided to be overprotective. He seemed to get more protective after her injury.. She glanced around the forest and saw a tree which was tall but had many footholds to climb up. Although most wolves didn’t know how to climb, she was a rare exception. She began to grip onto some of the branches and began to climb up to see if she could find Shadow in the forest.   
She continued to climb up and eventually enough started to climb across each tree which were close enough to just walk across. After about a minute, she saw Thunder on the ground. Thunder was crying out, “Azure! Azure come back!”   
She smirked since she was high up and she was wrapped in the shadows from the leaves. Besides, the noise that was made when her paws slammed against branches could be dismissed of a squirrel which no one would bother to catch due to them being so small.   
She decided for Thunder to keep moving or to turn back before she tried to go down and find Shadow. She watched him and he heard him snarl to himself, “Fine! You win Azure! That little son of a-“   
She decided to walk off after that and kept going through the trees. She wondered where Shadow would be. _Hmm… I think we are running low on many herbs that are flowers. I noticed that we were running low, especially on Marigold. We only have a few flowers of it left! She’s probably close to the human homes where they grow flowers._  
She decided to leap down from the trees and start walking in that direction, since the trees grew sparsely near the human homes and the ones that remained, were dying and weak. She kept her ears pricked up in case of emergency. The humans liked to walk up and down this route in the forest. But luckily they were loud and you could hear them before they could hear you.   
She kept walking down the slope and soon saw the Human homes in the distance. She raised her head to see if she could catch the scent of Shadow. She quickly noticed her scent and ran in that direction.   
She looked around seeing if she could spot her. She turned a sharp corner and then saw that she was right in front of Shadow! She tried to stop herself but she collided into Shadow. Shadow was startled but didn’t fall to the ground… but Azure did.   
“Ow! What the?!”   
Azure lay on the ground, disoriented and confused. Shadow looked down and saw her. “How did you get here?!”   
“I… knew we were running low on herbs… and once I caught your scent… I followed… you.”   
“Well… Although how Ignorant it was to follow me! I suppose that I should applaud you for finding me. Here, help me drag these herbs back to camp.”   
“Sure!”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PAGE COUNT - 7  
> Ooh Battle  
> Also there's some gore so watch out

Are those the new wolves that will be staying with us for a while?” Sunrise had left her den and had walked over to Thunder.  
“Yeah! Also, how are your pups?” He had checked up on them in the morning and he saw she had three pups.  
“Fine, They’re sleeping so I can finally leave that den! It was starting to smell awful. I should try to clean up the nursery soon.”  
“Get Caramel do it. He’s the omega.” He didn’t like the male wolf but he felt a twinge of guilt for constantly tormenting him.  
“No, I’ll do it.” Sunrise seemed a little mad for even mentioning that and she turned sharply back into the den.  
He sighed and walked over to the wolves. He saw Lupine, Willow, and Nutmeg at the front. Banji was talking with Lupine. Once Thunder got close enough to hear. He heard Willow say, “We scented that pack that is trying to attack you all. I think they are starting to come. It’s sunset and It looks like they should be here by moonrise. We should keep guards up to call out when they arrive.”  
Banji replied, “Good Idea. Should your Omega do it?”  
“Oh! Our pack doesn’t have any omega. We need everyone to hunt so we don’t have any omegas.”  
“Okay…? well then you can have one of your Hunters guard.”  
Most pack had omegas so they could have someone do the dirty work of the pack so having someone not doing all that work seemed inhumane and weird. _We probably look inhumane to them too._  
Lupine nodded and walked past Thunder. He nodded in Thunder’s direction and walked over to the prey pile. Thunder sat down and looked at the grass which made his paws itch. He raised his paw and bit down slightly on his paw trying to ease the itching. Honestly he was trying to pass the time since he wasn’t hungry, wasn’t tired, and he didn’t want to talk to anyone.  
_I wonder if Alpha’s going to be in the attack. I want to see that old bastard dead!_  
He stood up and started to pace. He needed something to do with himself so he just started pacing. Bronze walked over, “You have nothing to do either?”  
“Yeah.”  
Bronze asked, “Banji is sending wolves out to try and attack before they can reach camp. Want to join?”  
Thunder nodded. Bronze added, “Great! Well then meet Banji over by the Leaders den.”  
Thunder whisked past Bronze and headed over to Banji. Some of the Hunters from the other pack had gathered underneath. Along with Copper and Silver. Thunder walked over and asked, “Silver? Why are you going? You’re blind!”  
Silver growled, “I can still fight. And Pretty Damn well! You know that!”  
Her fur rose up defensively and her tail starting flicking as a sign of aggression. Copper snarled, “Guys! Break it up! We don’t have time for this!”  
Silver snarled but turned away and looked in the direction of Banji. Thunder walked to another section.   
He sat down in an area in the center of the small crowd. The crowd may have been fairly small, it was loud. Banji was sitting there, looking at his paws. He guessed that the crowd had about 8 or 9 Wolves mainly consisting of the other pack. Lupine walked up to Banji and he flicked his ears and looked up. They nodded at each other. Banji cried out over the crowd, “We will leave in a few minutes. Quickly get ready and we will follow their distant scent hoping we can stop them before they can get to camp.”  
Lupine walked over to someone beside him. Thunder looked at the wolf that Lupine was looking at. She was a small brown wolf. Lupine asked, “You are my best tracker. Can you lead the patrol, please?”  
She replied, “Sure Lupine! Although I think we are downwind of them. So at first I think we should just try to go in the direction of their camp.”  
Thunder blurted out, “I know where there camp is!”  
Lupine looked at him. “Good. You can be at the front of the patrol with Dusty.”  
Thunder was glad he didn’t ask how or why. He let out a breath of relief. Dusty flicked, her tail, “I guess we should wait at the entrance.”  
Thunder had been distracted. “Huh? Oh… okay.”  
He followed Dusty to the entrance. She sat down at the entrance. She sat in silence. Thunder noticed something around Dusty’s neck. He asked, “What is that thing around your neck?”  
“Oh! You mean my Bandana?”  
“Bandana? What’s a Bandana?”  
“Oh before I was a pack member I was owned by humans! I was their dog and as a sort of sign of ownership they put this around my neck. It’s sentimental to me so I just kept it.”  
“Why did you leave your humans?”  
“Oh! That’s simple! They started to play with me less and soon enough to entirely ignoring me. When I was guarding their farmland and they were caught trying to steal some chickens. They told me their situation and I was intrigued about pack life so I let them have the chickens in order to see what it was like to live in a pack. I prefered it since I was cared about so I just joined! And I never regretted the decision!”  
“That’s quite interesting. Although pack life can be tough... It is very rewarding.”  
Dusty grinned. “You’re damn right… err… I don’t think I ever got your name.”  
He answered. “It’s Thunder.”  
Banji whisked past them. “Okay group, let’s go!”  
Thunder looked behind him and saw the group walking over. Dusty and Thunder followed. Thunder looked around, “Well, Dusty. Can you smell anything?”  
Dusty shook her head. Thunder looked around again. “Well then, our best bet is to keep going forward since their camp is just north of here.”  
Walking was slow and annoying as they went up slopes as the sun set. The moon had begun to rise and dusty raised her head. She snarled to herself, “Damnit!”  
Thunder asked, “What?”  
“I just scented them because now we’re downwind of them. They’re heading towards the camp!”  
Thunder snarled, “Well, what are we waiting for. We have to get back!”  
Suddenly, three wolves leaped at the massive group. He couldn’t recognize two of them but he recognized easily the large and muscular wolf, Bone. He had light gray fur and red eyes. He was Alpha’s right-hand-man.  
Bone was charging towards Banji but Thunder leaped and snatched him by the neck. He sank his teeth into his neck as they hurtled to the ground. Bone collided with the ground head first but once Thunder lost his grip from the breath being knocked out of him. He made his move. He snarled and pinned Thunder against the ground.  
Bone sunk his unusually sharp claws into his chest put only enough to get a little bit of blood to flow. Thunder snarled and sprung up and clawed at his stomach while biting at his neck. He started tearing at his throat harder and harder until his head jerked back because the skin he was tearing at disconnected from the rest of the body. Blood poured onto his face and chest before Bone collapsed beside him.  
After he was sure that he had stopped moving, he raised his head to look at bone. His eyes were glazed but a shocked look remained. Blood trickled out of his mouth and nose from the crash head first onto the grass. His neck had been ripped to shreds by Thunder’s teeth tearing into it. His stomach had some claw marks on it but barely penetrated the skin.  
He looked around to see what was going on. He saw that another wolf had been brutally murdered by the group and one was surrounding by four other wolves. One wolf growled, “Leave! And you can live!”  
The wolf bounded off and Thunder looked another direction where half of the wolves were bolting back to camp Dusty leading the way. Thunder began to bolt over even though he reeked off blood and it would dry on his fur.  
He heard one of the hunter’s say, “Why would they leave three of their Warriors to attack us?”   
Another replied, “I think they did it as a diversion. I guess they didn’t expect half of us would keep moving. Well, one has run off now and another is dead.”   
The first one looked at Thunder and called out, “Is that enemy dead?!”   
He called back, “Yes!”   
A tiny fuzzy dog which looked like he had for fur than his entire body looked at him. The tiny dog asked, “Is that your blood?!”   
Thunder looked at his paws. He was covered in blood from the battle. “Only some of it. Now, we need to keep going as more defense!”   
Dusty walked over and nodded. She quickly darted off into the trees following the rest of her packmates including some of his own. He felt apprehensive as he followed her. He didn’t want to know what he was about to see.   
As they sprinted closer and closer to camp he heard the cries of some of his packmates along with the strong scent of blood and fear everywhere. His claws unsheathed in preparation to leap down on a wolf and attack. The entrance was ravaged so the wolves were easily able to walk over the bracken into the clearing.   
He looked around and saw wolves tackling each other in the clearing. He was surprised to see that rarely and wolves had given up on either side. Some had large gashes on them but they refused to back down.   
He saw a flash of fur right before his eyes and he felt sharp teeth bite his neck. He yowled and saw a frail, tiny wolf growling at him, covered in blood. The wolf looked too young to be in a battle yet there they were. He didn’t want to hurt them, but he slammed him into the ground and clawed at his flank.   
The wolf whimpered and lay on his back as a signal of submission. He whimpered loudly. Thunder hesitated then stepped back. The wolf got up and fled.   
Before the wolf could reach the demolished exit of the camp, a large brown wolf charged toward the small one. They were carrying a sharp stick. He was confused and tilted his head. But now, he knew what its purpose was…   
The Brown wolf dug the stick into the small wolf’s neck. The wolf was only a few feet away so he could hear the blood gurgling in his throat as the stick drove deeper and deeper into his neck.   
The Large brown wolf dropped the stick which also made the wolf collapse to the ground. Thunder had a look of pure horror on his face as the blood poured freely out of the wounds.   
The wolf turned and glared at him. Then he recognized the wolf. It was his sister, Artemis. She sneered at the body lying on the ground. “Hah! He was a traitor… and all traitors deserve to die!”   
He saw her unsheathe her claws as if she was prepared to leap up and needed her balance. She snarled and face right towards him. Then suddenly she started bolting forwards towards his face.   
Then he suddenly realized that she meant him. He had abandoned the pack as a tiny pup and now he was considered a traitor. He flung himself to the side but still, her teeth sunk into his flank and he stumbled to the ground.   
He struggled to regain his footing but Artemis charged at him and sunk his teeth into his neck. She snarled at him and sunk her teeth slowly and slowly deeper into his neck until blood began to flow.   
He looked for a way to escape and saw something. Most of her weight was being pressed on her forepaws. So, he would have to knock her down.   
He used his still free hind legs and kicked at her forepaws sending her slamming into the ground. He leaped to his paws and charged off trying to find Azure.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PAGE COUNT - 4  
> SUNRISE NOOOO

Caramel snarled loudly at an intruder. He tried to fluff himself up to make himself look bigger but he struggled too since he had short fur. He observed the wolf and saw that his opponent had his front paws far apart, leaving him space to lunge underneath the wolf.  
He charged, but once he reached the wolf they grabbed Charamel by the head and bashed his head hard into the ground.  
He saw small specks in his vision from the hard hit to the ground. He let out a groan but then he looked to the side. The wolf had approached Sunrise and Azure, who he was protecting. Azure was on a ledge so she leaped up higher than the wolf could reach and slammed her paws hard onto his back and also biting into his head.  
The wolf landed with a loud thud. The wolf cried out, not in pain, but it sounded as if it were signalling someone.  
Caramel got up and checked up on the pups. The pups whimpered from the cold and fear. Sunrise had to put them in a small crevice in the rock to keep them safe and It also had begun to rain.  
Caramel assured them, “Shh… It’s okay little ones. You will all be alright.”  
Caramel faced back to Sunrise and Azure. Azure had climbed up onto a ledge where wolves who entered could not see so she had the element of surprise.  
A group of three wolves swarmed in. He couldn’t recognize two of them but he recognized one of them. It was Alpha, the brutal white wolf with blue eyes, nicknamed by their pack, **the blue-eyed menace.**  
The two leaped at him, but Azure was prepared! She leaped down and slammed into them head first. One was startled but didn’t fall while the other did. Caramel leaped while they were dazed and bit down on their shoulder.  
The wolf retaliated in anger and thrust him to the wall. Their teeth sunk into his chest and tried to tear off a chunk of skin and fur. They had a lot more strength then he did. He glanced around for a way to escape but couldn’t see a way. But, he saw in the corner of his eye that Sunrise was snarling at Alpha. Alpha loomed over her and Azure was too busy tackling another wolf to notice.  
He screeched in order to alert Azure, “Protect Sunrise! She needs your help!”  
Then the wolf managed to bite a large gash in his stomach. The blood poured freely and the sudden rush of pain made him drop to the ground.  
The wolf snarled at him ready to sink their teeth into his neck. But, Alpha howled, “Artemis! Get over here!”  
The wolf growled at him and dug his head into the ground before running to Alpha’s side. He coughed, wincing at the pain at the same time. He managed to open his eyes a little. He was still wincing and his vision was blurry.  
Alpha and Artemis growled at Sunrise. But Sunrise glared back at them with no fear in her eyes. But then, Alpha lunged at her. They tumbled to the ground. Sunrise soon regained her balance and stood up again but Alpha started coughing. _Is he sick?_  
Artemis seemed to get the message and lunged at Sunrise. She slammed into Sunrise. Caramel cried out, “Use your teeth! You don’t have claws!”  
Azure had rushed over to Sunrise’s side and was tackling Artemis. She was distracted. Caramel tried to get up but the blood flowed harder and he got more lightheaded. He had to crash down to the ground in a feeble attempt to preserve his last remains of energy. He muffly heard the pups crying. He looked back at Sunrise.   
Alpha had his teeth around Sunrise’s neck. Sunrise whined as a sign of submission and fear. But then, Alpha sunk his teeth in deep and hard. She let out a cry of agony and a wave of blood poured out of the neck wound. He couldn’t stand the agonizing sound that came from her and he pressed his ears to his head to muffle the sound of her cries. _I’m so sorry Sunrise. I wish I could have helped._  
He heard Azure cry out even when the sound was muffled. He felt weak and dizzy and he started to black out. The last thing he heard was azure crying, “No! Don’t leave me like this!”

He woke up and he felt like something was constraining where the wound was. He opened his eyes and looked around. He saw he was curled up in a comfortable nest of leaves and bracken. He looked down to see what was constraining him. It was a bunch of leaves kept together with an Ivy vine that had all the leaves ripped off.  
He wondered what had happened. It was raining and cold-ish outside still. A couple very injured wolves were curled up in other nests of leaves, shivering. The area looked very makeshift. _How long have I been out?_  
He suddenly started hearing the the cries of wolves fighting again. He stared at the entrance and saw that the battle hadn’t ended and three wolves were protecting the den. He must have not been out for long but just long enough for Azure or Shadow to gather up wounded and put them somewhere safe. Although, he recognized that it was the Nursery. Then he saw in the Corner Azure cleaning up blood around Sunrise’s corpse.  
Caramel walked over to Azure. She was facing away from him and her head was hung low towards the ground. He asked, “You okay?”   
She turned and responded gloomily, “Yeah. I’m okay…”   
“You don’t sound like it!”   
She started to get aggressive, “Well I just watched my mother die! What do you expect?!”   
He jumped back in surprise. He felt sympathy for the young wolf. She turned away and lowered her head again.   
Caramel heard a loud crash! She turned around rapidly to see that a couple of opponent wolves were trying to get in the safe haven where the injured wolves were trying to recover from their battle wounds.   
Although he was injured himself, he ran to the aid of the guards and tried to keep the wolves away. He snarled loudly and dug his claws into the ground in preparation to jump up.   
He tried to leap at them in the small space but the wolf simply dodged by leaping to the side. He crashed into the mud outside. As he tried to stand up again, the wolf pressed a heavy paw on his neck to keep him down. “Where do you think you’re going?”   
He looked up to see the wolf he had tried to attack. One of the guards leaped at the wolf but was easily shook off by them while keeping him under their weight.   
He growled at them. And tried to spring upwards to attack them. They used their sharp teeth to bite at his face and leave a large mark across it.  
The Wolf sprung again at the other wolf and managed to get them off him. He scrambled back. Suddenly, he noticed that the leaves covering his wounds had been thrown off. He expected the blood to start flowing again, but it didn’t flow as heavily. _I guess the wound is healing quickly. If I can stand, I can fight._  
He looked around, and just like that, he was back into the battle.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PAGE COUNT - 4  
> We get a more detailed version of Sunrise's death... you're welcome

ne Hour Ago:   
Azure tried to keep her opponent under her but the wolf was two times her size. She struggled to keep upwards by swatting and snapping at her paws whenever she tried to get up. She heard a cry from her friend. He called out, “Help Sunrise!”   
She whipped her head around to look at Caramel. He had a large gash in his stomach and he was crouched down on the ground. She wanted to help him but she looked at Sunrise.   
Sunrise was snarling at Alpha, a large, merciless wolf. Sunrise didn’t know how to fight for she had no claws to keep her balance when lunging and she struggled to penetrate fur on wolves when attacking with her teeth.   
Azure leaped off of her opponent who looked dazed and confused anyway. She rushed over to Sunrise’s aid.   
She sprinted over aiming to slam into Alpha. Alpha looked away from Sunrise and saw Azure. Azure kept running towards him but once she leaped up he crouched down so she just flew over his head. He crashed into the ground with a loud thump.   
All the breath had been knocked out of her. She struggled to breathe! She got on her back to help herself breathe easier and get help her get back to her paws.   
One she caught her breath she got back up and then she saw Alpha’s teeth around Sunrise’s neck. She yelled, “Don’t hurt her!”   
Alpha looked at her and instead of letting her go. He sunk his teeth into her neck. She heard a cracking noise as he sunk his teeth in.   
Alpha dropped Sunrise to the ground. Limp and the blood poured from her wound. Azure bolted over and looked at the wound in horror.   
Sunrise slowly lifted her head to look at her. Azure said, her voice shaky, “I- I can fix this! Just stop moving! Let me get something!”   
Sunrise placed her paw on Azure’s. She gave her a grim smile. She croaked out. “I don’t think that even Shadow’s healing skills could fix this.”   
Azure whimpered, “Don’t move! You’ll only waste your energy!”  
Sunrise grimaced and rested her head on her paws as if to please Azure. Azure bounded off trying to find some herbs. She charged her way over to the small hole in the healer’s den that kept all the herbs.   
She entered the healer’s den and her jaw dropped. A wolf was scattering and crushing the delicate leaves, making them useless for healing. The wolf looked up at her and smiled. Azure snarled but before she could attack, Arrow leaped up and started attacking the wolf.   
Frantically, while the wolf was distracted, she grabbed a handful of half crushed regular leaves to help cover the wound. But the rest was destroyed so she quickly ran back towards Sunrise.   
She returned seeing that the wound had just opened up more. As Azure desperately tried to cover the wound, Sunrise weakly placed her paw on Azure’s. She grimaced and whispered, “I know I’m going to die. Stop wasting your energy.”   
Azure stammered, “N-No! Don’t leave me like this!”   
Azure dug her face into her mother’s soft fur. She whispered to her, “I love you Azure.”   
Azure looked over at Sunrise and whimpered, “I- I love you too.”   
Sunrise smiled and then her head lowered. She closed her eyes and Azure felt her body go limp.   
Azure turned on Alpha. She snarled at him, baring her teeth. She was staring down Alpha but he was coughing again and falling to his knees. She couldn’t tell if he was just trying to get sympathy so she could come over in his range. So she looked around and saw that Caramel was curled up in one of the corners, bleeding from a chest wound and his large stomach wound.  
She trotted over to him and grabbed him by the scruff. She dragged him out of the way to a comfortable spot where she could treat the wound.   
She found a torn up bed of leaves and set him down. It was better than nothing. She looked around for something she could cover the wound with. She found an Ivy vine growing on the side of the den and grabbed it. She took a couple of leaves and placed it over the wound to reduce bleeding. Then she grabbed the Tendril of Ivy and wrapped it around his chest in order for it to stay in place. That’s where his worst wound was. It wasn’t that big but it penetrated deep. The claws had merely scraped against his stomach and would scab over.  
She over at where Alpha was. Artemis was helping Alpha out of the den, ignoring her. She sighed in relief knowing she could tend to the injured. She was still confused by their submission to battle. They were fierce wolves so it confused her. But she didn’t have time to worry about that since she needed to take care of the Injured.   
She looked at her small stock of leaves to cover wounds but that was really it. She tried to find the small crevice where they had decided to hide the tiny wolf pups so the enemies couldn’t find them.   
She spotted a tiny fern growing in a small corner of the stone walls. She walked over and parted the ferns to find the small pups, huddled up and whimpering. She tried to assure them that they would be okay. She helped them out of the small crevice of the wall and she helped them warm up again. The rain continued to crash on the sides of the den, scaring the pups.   
She noticed a figure walking into the den. Once they entered she recognized it as Thunder. He was carrying a limp body in his jaws. She couldn’t see anything wrong with the small, fluffy dog until she saw its leg. It was bloody and twisted in unnatural angles. He placed down the small wolf. Before she could ask, he calmly said, “A wolf bashed her leg into some sharp rocks, do you know how to fix it?”   
Azure looked up at him. “I’ll see what I can do.”   
She took some of the remaining ivy tendrils that she had around and tried to wrap them around he leg in order to stabilize it. She noticed that some of the pups she was protecting had stepped back from smelling the excessive blood.  
She grabbed a piece of driftwood that lay at the entrance. Even stepping a paw outside drenched her fur. She wondered how anyone could remain fighting in the poor weather conditions. The wind was roaring in her ears. She hoped that the battle would end soon or at least the rain would end and there wouldn’t be any bad injuries.   
She grabbed the driftwood and although it would be ideal for it to be dry would, she had to try her best with the limited resources. She used the ivy tendrils to keep the driftwood in place to stabilize the leg even more and perhaps be some protection due to the fact there wasn’t anything to really cover it up.   
All she could do was wait for the battle to end. She wrapped her tail around the tiny pups, trying to shield them from the cries of the wolves battling.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PAGE COUNT - 56  
> Longest Chapter Yet  
> I'm sorry  
> So much shit happens  
> I also clarify a ton

The rain had stopped from earlier, leaving her able to drag Sunrise’s body out from the den and the camp. She was lucky that only a few more wolves were seriously injured and Shadow was taking care of them now. Caramel whose wound had healed quickly, was helping Sunrise’s body out into the moonlight. It was nearly before dawn and she hadn’t slept yet. She set Sunrise’s body out onto a small patch of dry land.  
It was ceremonious to cover the wolf’s injuries and line the wolf with flowers before burial. Azure looked around to find some flowers. She could only find a few. She raised her muzzle to see if she could smell anymore nearby, but she couldn’t.  
Caramel Suggested, “I guess they didn’t know what flowers had medical uses so they just destroyed as many as they could find on their way over and heading back.  
Azure agreed. “Makes sense,” but she was crestfallen about the idea.  
She gathered a pawful of flowers which were the only ones around. She covered the wound with the flowers and added some moss but that was it. Caramel looked at the body. “We have to go back to camp before we can bury her. We should get Ash… He was Sunrise’s mate. I don’t think he knows yet.”  
Azure nodded and followed Caramel back to the den. The sun began to peer over the mountains in the distance casting small rays of light across the ground. They returned to camp and Azure ran over to the small area where the wolves were by the nursery den. She trotted inside where the injured were. Ash was one of them. He wasn’t incredibly injured but still hurt nonetheless. When she walked over, his ears twitched and he raised his head, sleepily. He had been passed out for a few hours.  
He looked around and then looked at Azure. “Where’s Sunrise?”  
Azure whimpered, “I’m sorry Ash, but she died…”  
He leaped up, “What?!”  
Azure looked away, feeling bad she couldn’t save her. Ash pleaded, “What happened?!”  
She responded, “Alpha killed her. Her body is outside the camp. We are about to bury her.”  
Thunder asked from the entrance, “Did anyone else die?”  
Azure shook her head. “No. Not yet.”  
Ash was shaking violently. “N-no! This can’t be happening!”  
Azure felt sympathy for her father. Azure whimpered, “I’m sorry. You should come over before we bury her body.  
Ash still looked shock but he hesitantly nodded and followed them to where they had placed her.  
Hazel, one of the elders looked up and saw them heading out. She said to Azure, “I’m coming with you guys. I was one of her best friends.”  
Azure nodded and they kept walking off into the distance and up the tiny slope. They stopped at where they had left her limp, lifeless body.  
Azure glanced at Ash to see him staring in shock. He slowly walked over to her body and placed his paw of her gray fur and just looked at her, his face blank as if he was numb. Hazel joined him as if to reassure him. She curled up by the body and she could hear her talking to him but it seemed muffled to her ears.  
She just watched, too grief-stricken to do anything. So she merely just started digging the shallow hole where they would place Sunrise’s body. It didn’t need to be very deep, just enough to cover the body.  
Sunrise was a small wolf, which is where she inherited her small, lean frame. Caramel joined in with her and she just quietly dug the hole, not knowing what to say.  
Once they were finished, she looked over at Hazel. Hazel looked over at her and Azure signaled at her with her head to bring Sunrise over. Hazel grabbed Sunrise by the scruff and was able to drag her body over to the hole.  
She raised the small wolf and gently lay her down in the hole. Ash had joined them and they all looked down at Sunrise. Hazel uttered, “May her spirit live in the stars and watch over us for eternity.”  
Azure nodded. Ash leaned down and rested his head on the cold, lifeless body. Azure knew that even in death, her fur was still the silky soft she remembered at a pup. Caramel looked at her. “You and Ash should leave, we will finish burying her.”  
Azure flicked her tail towards Ash signaling for them to leave. Ash hesitantly got up and followed her. As they walked away, the Sun had begun to rise, but it was foggy outside, leaving the area around them white and misty, Unclear and mysterious.  
Azure looked over at Ash, she stated, “This weather is almost symbolic. What’s ahead is unknown and unclear. Now that Sunrise is dead.”  
Ash nodded. He whispered, “Yes. It is, No one could ever replace her. She was my mate for years. Years even before you were born.”  
She nodded. “She was my mother too. Wait, who is going to take care of her pups?”  
Ash answered, “Most likely one of the other pack’s she-wolves. We don’t have any other wolves expecting pups or having pups right now.”  
They entered the camp and headed back over to where all the wolves were. They sat in the nursery den. A couple wolves asked him if they could run over to their camp to see if there was any damage to their camp.  
Ash asked, “Why?”  
The large wolf which she recognized as Lupine replied, “They might have attack your camp as a diversion to destroy our camp along with yours. We can’t stay at your camp due to them driving out prey, destroying herbs and dens.”  
Ash nodded and they passed her and Lupine acknowledged her by curtly nodding in her direction. She crept over to Shadow and asked, “Do you need me to get anything?”  
Shadow grumbled, “If those pesky wolves hadn’t destroyed all the marigold plants, I would have you grab that. For now, just grab some leaves and cobwebs. It’s the best we’ve got.”  
She nodded but before she left, she heard a cracking sound. She looked up in confusion. Then she saw it. A large boulder as the roof had been dislodged and was about to fall right on top of her! She cried out and Thunder slammed into her to knock her out of the way as the boulder crashed to the ground sending rocks, dirt, and dust across the ground.  
Thunder got off of her and stood up, he looked at the boulder and just stared at it in shock. The wolf in the back who was taking up in the pups called out, “We definitely need to leave this place!”  
Azure ran outside to get the herbs. She ran off into the woods. She saw a low hanging tree with lots of leaves. It was tilted at a 45° angle and it was covered in blossoms. Since she knew the basics to climbing, she found some pawholds and began to climb up. The tree didn’t feel that stable but she just needed to grab a couple branches. She grabbed some branches from the low hanging tree and looked around. She saw that the area was a great place for a camp. _Hmm… If their camp is unusable, we could use this as a campsite. It has a lot of shade under trees, a stream protecting one side which feeds into the river. Some of the trees have enough space under the roots for some wolves to sleep. Even this tree could be used as a den._  
_On the other side of the stream, there is a Cliffside, and underneath is plenty of plants and space to hide and sleep. It looks like a great campsite! Although it is very close to the burned forest. Not close enough to be a disturbance to the wolves living there so, good... Great in fact!_  
She leaped down and ran back to camp. The branches were covered with blossoms and leaves. Perhaps Shadow knew some purposes for the light pink and purple blossoms.  
She walked back into camp and immediately back into the den. The groups of wolves looked as if they had been cleared out by Banji in order to clear up space. Wolves were exiting the camp and the den. Thunder stalked past her. She looked at her and before she could ask, he stated, “We’re all going hunting.”  
She retorted, “I wasn’t going to ask.”  
Thunder growled and ran off to the front of the large group of wolves. Azure rolled her eyes. _I can’t believe that’s my mate…_  
Azure dragged the branches inside. Shadow was leaning over Star’s body. She had a large scratch over her eye that was sealing it shut. She walked over. Shadow looked up and her eyes widened. “W-where did you get those blossoms?”  
She responded hesitantly, “They were all over this tree. I just grabbed a couple branches for the leaves.”  
Shadow smiled, “Well, the juices in the blossom can be used to treat or prevent eye infections. Star got a bunch of mud into that cut on her wound, so those blossoms are exactly what I needed!”  
Azure gave her the branches. Shadow sat down and looked at them. A smile spread across her face. She grabbed a few blossoms and started chewing up the petals. While chewing she informed her, “Also, the petals can be used to help keep out infection in any small wound. It isn’t as effective as marigold but it will do. Grab one of the two branches and try to at least heal some of the smaller wounds. Even fixing small wounds can do a lot.”  
Azure grabbed a branch and scanned some of the remaining wolves. She noticed that some of the wolves who were remaining, looked like they could go hunting, but they were covered in cuts and scrapes.  
She walked over to Arrow who was looking at the dog with the broken leg. He looked up when she approached. “Do you need me to fix your wounds?”  
He shook his head, “No, help heal someone else, Like Star. My daughter needs more help than I do.”  
“Shadow is tending to her. Let me tend to your wounds. You can go hunting then and distract yourself from all of the problems.”  
“I prefer to face my problems head on.”  
“But it’s not going to do you any good to pace around and bleed out. Let me help you.”  
He sighed but outstretched his paw to show teeth marks across his paw. Azure half grinded up the leaves with her teeth and placed the pulp onto a leaf. She used it to rub the pulp into the wound to help prevent infection. She covered the wounds with leaves. Once she was done with the paw, she showed him how to put the pulp onto his wounds.  
“Once you’re done with doing that, put some of the leaves on the wounds and keep it there for a bit and once the wound isn’t hurting anymore or has begun to scar over, you can go hunting.”  
“T-thanks Azure.”  
Azure grinned, glad that she could get the stubborn wolf to take care of himself, and headed off to find the others who were hurt. A few hours past and she had begun to treat the incredibly injured.  
The one she was treating was a dog named Cedar, the one with the broken leg. She saw that the splint had begun to straighten the leg. She used some of the remaining blossoms to make a large amount of the pulp. It wouldn’t be that effective, she knew but it would help a little at the massive wounds. She covered her leg with the pulp and covered the splint and the leg with leaves to keep it all together. She also grabbed another layer of vines and wove them in the leaves. The leaves had immediately become blood soaked but she was out of leaves so she didn’t know what to do.  
Ash peered inside. He had returned. Banji was sitting beside a random injured wolf but looked up. “Well? Is their camp okay?”  
Ash shook his head. “It’s completely wrecked and they looted their prey stores. We need to find another camp!”  
Azure suggested, “When I went finding herbs I found a really good campsite! We could go there!”  
Ash declared, “Sounds great! You can lead the way!”  
Azure nodded. The rest of the patrol entered. Lupine asked, “Is it far from here?”  
Azure responded, “Not that far, but will take a while. It won’t be painstakingly hard to carry the injured.”  
Lupine put Cedar on his back to carry her to the new camp. The larger wolves out of the group picked up the injured wolves who couldn’t walk and trotted out of the den. Banji commanded to the rest of the patrol, “Stay here and direct any wolves who return here. Tell them to follow our scent and get up and follow our scent at sunset. At that time everyone should have returned here.”  
Ash and a few others nodded. Azure started bolting towards the entrance. “Come on, follow me!”  
It was a long walk and by the time they arrived, the sun was at its peak. Shadow looked at the beautiful splendor of the area. She breathed, “It’s amazing! Plants are nearby and there is plenty of shelter! Not bad for a pup, Azure.”  
She mumbled, “I’m not a pup but, Thanks.”  
“Don’t get cocky, you’re only an eleven month old wolf.”  
She wanted to retort but sighed and tried to find a den for herself. _Technically, the type of wolf I am, a reaper wolf, I grow two times as fast as normal wolves. So when I am a one year old wolf I am the equivalent to a two year old wolf._  
She found a nice area in the roots of a large old oak tree. It was next to the blossom tree. Once she decided to lay down in her temporary den, since she couldn’t sit up in it, it was that small, she realized her exhaustion. She hadn’t slept for over a day and a half! _I really need sleep!_  
She yawned and lowered her head in resignation to her exhaustion. And soon enough, she was asleep. 

She opened her eyes to see Shadow sitting in front of her tiny den. She dropped something in front of her. It was a rabbit, her favorite! Although she wanted it, she wanted to make sure everyone else had eaten. She nudged it back to Shadow. Shadow insisted, “You haven’t eaten in two days! Everyone else has eaten!”  
She sighed and lowered her head in submission. She took a bite. Once she had a taste of the rabbit’s flesh. Her hunger took over. She left her den and sunk her teeth into the rabbit. She ate quickly and once she raised her head she saw Shadow was laughing. “Dang! You were hungry! Clean up after yourself but you’re off the hook. Sleep for the night.”  
Azure rushed to finish and her muzzle was covered in blood, so were her paws. She looked around. Wolves were walking around, talking. The light was dying, casting small rays of orange light across the ground. Some had settled down to sleep but most were in groups of two or three, telling stories or talking. She wondered out loud, “Where’s Thunder?”  
Caramel walked over to her and responded, “Some of the pack decided to stay behind at the old camp to help rebuild. Thunder is with them. Along with Arrow, Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and a few others from the other pack.”  
“Did anyone get hurt while I was out?”  
“Unfortunately, yes. A wolf from the other pack named, Nutmeg I believe was trying to get here and she got hit with a tree branch and died. She had a quick burial.”  
She felt pity for the wolf. He hoped Copper and her pack was doing okay. Caramel walked over after a while. Caramel asked playfully, “May I have the rest of, well, what’s left of that rabbit.”  
Azure retaliated and growled at him, protectively wrapping her tail around the piece of prey. He laughed, “I’m kidding! I ate earlier!”  
Azure started to laugh. She quickly finished the rabbit and cleaned herself up. Caramel talked while she did this. Shadow walked away after a while. Caramel at one point Caramel started asking about the type of wolf she was. She began to explain. “I am a reaper wolf. Every night, we meet up at a camp in the burnt forest. That is where me and Thunder go every night.”  
Caramel asked, “How do you become a reaper wolf?”  
“If there are reaper wolves nearby already, and you die as a pup, they give you the offer to become a reaper wolf in exchange for getting another chance at life. This is very common due to pups not understanding the consequences, or, you are born as a reaper wolf.”  
“What are the consequences?”  
“Reaper wolves grow up twice as fast, which means we tend to reach maturity at the age of one year old instead of two years old. And when the reaper wolves began, there were such a limited amount of them, they had to force every female to have pups with a specific male at the age of one year old. This was vital since reaper wolves keep the balance between which wolves go to each afterlife. Even though there are a lot more reaper wolves, they just kept this tradition. My assigned mate is Thunder.”  
Caramel sat down, “No wonder. That explains a lot.”  
Azure whimpered, “I’m an 11 month old wolf, getting close to a year old. That’s bad news for me. I might even be expecting pups in the next week or two! That’s pretty much the basics of it. I have to leave tonight so, I’ll see you later.”  
Caramel sighed. “Bye Azure, see you later.”  
Azure trotted off out of the temporary camp. She felt glad that this camp was closer to the burnt forest. She could get to the reaper camp quicker and get back quicker.  
She headed up to the camp, hoping to see her friends again. 

Azure was laying down talking to Dusty. She had been unconscious for a week since she had her head bashed into a rock. There would be no scar but her left ear was nearly torn off. Dusty had many questions when she awoke.  
“Only two of our wolves died in the battle, Nutmeg and Sunrise, my mother.”  
Dusty whimpered in remorse and pity, “I’m sorry Azure. That must be tough.”  
Azure ears pressed against her head, “I’ll be fine. It’s been a tough week but it’s okay.”  
Azure nudged a pheasant in her direction. “Have this, you haven’t eaten in a week.”  
The wolf’s bones shone through their skin. This concerned Shadow when taking care of her. Dusty greedily took the pheasant and started eating. They did not hesitate between bites. “Careful Dusty! You don’t want to choke!”  
She slowed down and spit out a bunch of feathers. Dusty slowed down and finished chewing before she took her next bite.  
Shadow walked over. She flicked her tail at her. “I can take care of her for now. Go and hunt or something. Azure nodded and decided to go by the stream and relax. The last week or so consisted of Azure going out at night and sleeping for about half of the day and hanging out with Caramel. She was glad Thunder wasn’t around except when they went to the Night meetings with the other reaper wolves.  
**What happened last night she wouldn’t forget for a while…**

_Azure was sitting around talking with Sira and Dira. They were talking about their typical things, gossip about other wolves and other nonsense. Then a spirit arrived to be judged so they could figure out which realm to send them too. Azure recognized them immediately, and so did Thunder._  
_It was Alpha. He must have died from the sickness they had expected Alpha had. Thunder didn’t even wait for him to be judged. Thunder charged toward him and grabbed him by the neck in his jaws. He hurled him at a tree because he had the strength and he wanted to see him be sent to the hell evil wolves were sent to. Whichever type of Reaper wolf touches the Spirit first, gets sent there. Since Thunder was a Malfasciant Reaper, he sent him to the hell where the evil wolves resided. That place was called Malfasciant, hence the name of Thunder’s type of reaper._  
_It was almost unheard of for a wolf to do that! It was shocking and scary. It scared Azure. When Alpha’s body hit a tree, it disintegrated and he was sent to Malfasciant._  
_Azure was a Calamity Reaper. She sent Wolves to the Calamity afterlife. It was a little better than Malfasciant but still very bad to be sent there. The Malfasciant afterlife was pitch darkness while invisible monsters tried to kill you for all eternity. The Calamity afterlife is a dark forest with no daytime. It’s always foggy and it reeks of rotting flesh. For the most part you wander alone or try to rest. The good thing is that you don’t feel hunger since there is no food. Unlike the Malfasciant afterlife, you constantly are starving to death but can’t die._

Azure dipped her paw in the stream and played with the water. She was very bored. She yawned and closed her eyes. She heard pawsteps coming closer to her. Her ears flicked up as a signal that she was hearing and being attentive even though her eyes were closed.  
Caramel asked, “Do you want to go on a walk? I found a path up to that cliff.”  
“Sounds like fun! Let’s go!”  
Azure stood up and looked at Caramel. Caramel playfully flicked his tail in her face. She laughed and followed him. As they walked they decided to talk. Azure commented, “Nice day, isn’t it? I like this sort of weather, nice and calm a wonderful breeze in the air but not too windy.”  
Caramel nodded in agreement. “And for me, most wolves are happy on these days so they cut me some slack. It’s great! I don’t have wolves using me as a chew toy!”  
Azure laughed. “Yeah! Also, I’m glad we are taking a walk. I want to talk anyways.”  
He asked, “What do you want to talk about?”  
“Don’t know, just want to hang out.”  
They walked up a trail that lead up the mountains. It looked as if it had been created by humans due to the fact it didn’t seem quite that natural. But she didn’t mind, it was still a path nonetheless.  
They talked for a bit while they walked up the slope. She was getting tired but she assumed that it must have been tired for the trail was hard to climb up. _There is a steep-ish slope to this trail. That’s why I’m tired. And I didn’t sleep last night._  
They stopped at a Cliffside that was far off the ground. The wolves down below looked like little ants. Azure found it quite beautiful up here. She lay down on the cliff looking down in awe of how beautiful the forest was from up above.  
She was panting and just generally tired. Caramel laughed, “I went up here, then back, then back up again! And you’re tired from climbing up once!”  
She growled, “Come on, I didn’t sleep last night! I also have Asthma Caramel!”  
“Alright, Alright! Calm down. Don’t freak out.”  
“Sorry.”  
“It’s okay Azure. We can just chill and talk. So, how is that dog, Dusty doing?”  
“Fine, fine. She just woke up from her coma state and has been very hungry since she hasn’t eaten for a week!”  
Caramel joked, “Well… how would you react if you got food after not eating for a week.”  
She retorted, “Even after two days of not eating, I went insane when I saw my next meal. After not eating for a while, all food tastes like the best thing you’ve ever eaten after you haven’t eaten in ages!”  
“You’re talking to the omega! Omegas rarely get enough food.” He chuckled, “I know how it feels!”  
She slunk back and sighed. Caramel asked, “What’s wrong?”  
Azure whimpered. “I really should have just let myself die. I wouldn’t have deal with this. I would be with Sunrise and my siblings.”  
Caramel eyes widened, “Azure, it’s okay. You were a pup when you made that choice. Besides, this isn’t the worst thing that could happen.”  
Caramel curled up beside Azure trying to comfort her. Azure whimpered, “I figured it out… I’m expecting pups.”  
Azure dug her face into Caramel’s fur. She was sad and she realized how much of a burden this was going to be. _Becoming a reaper wolf was my worst decision of my life! If I did not become one, I would be up in the stars playing with my littermates and Sunrise._  
Azure was whimpering loudly and crying out. Caramel let her rest on him. Caramel whispered soothing words to her, trying to calm her down.  
Azure began feeling too tired and stressed. She began to fall asleep by accident. She opened her eyes and saw Caramel. Caramel was smiling at her. She closed her eyes again and her breathing slowed. She could sense that she was falling asleep but she didn’t care. 

_She was walking around in the forest aimlessly. She saw something in the corner of her eye and saw a large, black figure. Once she saw it, it began charging in her direction. She cried out and ran as fast as she could._  
_She dodged between trees and it blurred around her. She cried out for help. “Help me! Anyone!”_  
_The figure just started running quicker. She suddenly crashed into the ground and a large paw was pinning her down. She scrambled to get a foothold, but she felt teeth sink into her neck while the second paw scraped at her side until blood began to flow. The scar on her side that she quickly forgot about since there were other things to worry about, began to bleed again. Before she could do anything, the teeth sunk into her neck and her vision went black._  
She woke up with a start. She looked around in confusion. Then she remembered where she was. She was still resting on Caramel and the sun had nearly set. Caramel opened his eyes and raised his head. 

“Heh, ready to leave?”  
“Yeah, I have to go. But, thanks for bringing me here. I really needed someone to talk to. Also I think this leads up to the reaper camp. So, I don’t have to travel as far.”  
Caramel laughed, “Bye Azure! I’ll tell them that you decided to go hunting late.”  
Caramel got up and headed towards the camp again while Azure climbed up the slope.  
She walked through the forest casually. She reached the camp very quickly. Most of the wolves, which were nocturnal were just getting up.  
Azure saw Sira and Dira sitting and talking on top of some rocks, watching a small brook that cut through the camp. She trotted over. Sira raised her head at Azure’s approached. “Hey Azure!”  
“Hey Sira, hey Dira. Any news?”  
“Nah. Although Dira is learning these spell like things to do, something. I don’t know.”  
Dira recited, “To Counteract Shadow Spirits!”  
Azure asked, “What the hell are Shadow Spirits?”  
She replied, “They are this odd type of spirit. They seek revenge due to a wolf dying before they could seek revenge on someone or something. They don’t have any physical form but Malfasciant reapers can harness their powers and give them a physical form. Once they reach physical form, they can enter the bodies of whoever the Harnesser desires. They destroy the host from the inside and destroy their mental health.”  
“I’m learning how to cancel out the mental effects of the Shadow spirits and be able to destroy Shadow spirits.”  
Azure asked, “Wait, Thunder is a Malfasciant reaper, does he know how to harness them?”  
Dira replied, “It’s a part of their training and he recently finished his training like you. He probably does.”  
She began to shiver in fear. Dira tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry! Shadow spirits are usually only used to send other spirits to Malfasciant if they have resilient souls!”  
She let out a breath of relief. She sighed and sat down beside Sira. They chatted like they normally did and just relaxed. Thunder and Evergreen joined them later on but then they both got called on a hunting patrol.  
Sira laughed, “I’m shocked you ended up with such and Idiot like Thunder!”  
Azure laughed as well. And she found that this was a good time to tell them about her situation. She sighed before she spoke, “The unfortunate thing is, is that I’m expecting his pups.”  
Sira turned, “What?! Congratulations! I mean, I know damn well you didn’t want to but you know, all females have to when you’re a reaper wolf.”  
Azure smiled at her friends. She knew she could trust them. She yawned and lowered her head on the rocks. She pawed at the rocks in front of her. Sira asked, “I caught a rabbit earlier, do you want me to grab it?”  
“Sure.”  
Sira ran off to the prey pile to grab the rabbit. Dira decided to talk to her more. “So, do you want to collect some herbs to bring back to your pack?”  
“Yeah, that’s kinda become our thing to do every night.”  
Dira smirked. She grabbed a bundle of blooming light blue flowers. She wove them together as they talked and placed them as a crown on top of Azure’s head. Azure looked into her reflection in the brook. “Thanks Dira!”  
Sira returned with a pure white rabbit. It had a mutilated neck. It was a messy catch but it wouldn’t be that bad. She dropped it in front of her. Azure smiled and nudged it closer to Dira. “Here, you have the first bite.”  
Sira added, “Although I technically took a bite out of its neck!”  
Azure smirked, “You did that to kill it!”  
All three of them laughed and Dira began eating. “This is good Sira! For once the prey you catch is edible!”  
Sira growled and playfully lunged at her. Dira got thrown off the rocks onto the grass. She howled over-dramatically, “Ow! You killed me Sira! Azure! Avenge me!”  
Azure leaped at Sira and threw her to the ground easily. Sira was very lightweight. Dira cried out, “I have been avenged for! But I was resurrected so it was pointless!”  
Sira leaped up and wrestled Azure, “I was never dead Azure! Prepare for the toughest battle of your life!”  
Sira tried to push her into the stream but could merely inch her to the other side. Azure had built up quite a bit of muscle due to the fact she was constantly running around. She pretended that the blow was fatal and made a dramatic howl. “I’m dead and I can’t be resurrected! Oh the drama!”  
She accidently rolled off to the side and crashed into the small brook. She didn’t get hurt and it was far too shallow to even cover half of her body. She saw Dira and Sira looking in shock. Then Azure howled dramatically, “Sira! You are too powerful! You can never be defeated!”  
They ended up all just laughing together at that. Dira and Azure climbed back up the rocks and they decided to tell jokes throughout the night. Dira and Sira nearly depleted the rabbit and Azure had the scraps. Azure grabbed some more prey and they had a great night. Near the end they gathered some herbs and she left.  
Azure headed back to camp going the route she got there, noticing it was a shorter walk.  
Azure smiled to herself, glad that Dira and Sira were able to cheer her up. They had collected a few herbs but not many.  
She reached camp and headed to her den, she saw that when she reached her den, Caramel was curled up in her den. She laughed to herself and joined him. Caramel opened his eyes and looked at her. Azure whispered, “Slacking off, eh?”  
Caramel nodded. “I’ll do anything to get out of protecting the camp at night. Hanging out in your den was the best hiding spot.”  
Azure grinned. “You should get back to your post.”  
He whined, “Five more minutes!”  
Azure glared at him but couldn’t keep a straight face. Caramel snickered, “Alright, Alright!”  
Caramel left her den. Azure smiled and she placed the herbs at the front of the den. She nestled up in her soft bed of moss and closed her eyes. She rapidly fell asleep. 

_She was back in the forest. But instead of getting that monster that haunted her dreams, she saw a white, translucent, silhouette. She winced at the figure. “S-Sunrise?”  
The figure got close to her so she could see distinct features. She could tell it was Sunrise. Her gray fur was now a silver color but her fur was still pristine, long, and silky. Her sunset eyes glowed with life.  
Azure bounded over and burrowed her face into Sunrise’s fur. She whimpered, “Don’t ever leave me again, mom!”  
She smiled, “I won’t Azure. I never did and I never will. I am always with you.”  
A couple small puppies appeared in her vision. She saw five of them. They ran over. They cried out in excitement, “It’s Sister Azure!”  
She turned away from Azure and saw more closely that they were her littermates. Sunrise spoke, “This is Spot, Winter, Howl, Moonlight, and Oak.”  
Winter walked up to Azure, “Hi Azure!”  
The tiny pups crowded around her, but one stayed back. It was the white pup with blue eyes. She walked over and asked, “Hi Moonlight. What’s wrong?”  
Sunrise answered for him, “He’s mute. He can’t speak. But he can understand you.”  
Moonlight walked towards her precariously. He stopped in front of her and looked at her in awe. She realized something and asked Sunrise, “Did I die?”  
Sunrise shook her head, “No. Not yet. It isn’t your time. You won’t die for a while.”  
“Am I just asleep then?”  
Sunrise nodded. “Yes. You will soon return to the mortal realm. I just thought it was a good time to visit you. You’re going through a lot and I know this is tough. Just remember, I am always by your side.”_

Azure opened her eyes and glanced around. The sun was drifting through the den, signaling it was mid-morning. She got up and stretched. She climbed her way out of her den and looked around at the camp. Although it was a temporary camp, most were finding it nice and safe.  
She saw that the flowers and herbs she had collected last night had been taken to the small healers den. She saw Shadow had a bundle of moss and marigold in her jaws, just what she had collected. She walked over precariously.  
Shadow lowered the bundle of herbs and looked at her. “Hi Azure! Hey uh, last night, did you find these? They were lying in front of your den so I took them.” She pointed at the bundle of herbs.  
Azure nodded, “I was out for half of the night finding them. They are high quality so I think I did a good job.”  
Shadow smirked, “Not bad. Especially for a silly pup like you!”  
Azure had grown used to Shadow picking on her. She was an aggressive wolf and had dealt with her for 6 months! _If I hadn’t grown used to her, I would be screeching at her right now. But I know she’s always bitter and angry no matter what you do._  
Azure trotted off to see if she could find Rain. She was the she-wolf that was taking care of her three younger siblings.  
She spotted Rain basking in the Sunshine on a pile of flat stones. She headed over and asked, “Hey, Where’s Icarus, Teardrop and Hail?”  
Rain replied without looking up. “They’re still asleep. Why do you need them?”  
Azure replied calmly, “I just wanted to make sure they were out of trouble.”  
Rain looked over at her. “Yeah. I will almost never let them out of my sight and when I do, I make sure they are fast asleep!”  
Azure laughed. “Yeah, I trust you with them. I’m just gonna go hunting.”  
Rain stared at her in confusion. “You rarely hunt. You feeling okay?”  
Azure laughed. “I’m fine. I assure you. I just want to hunt. Is that a crime?”  
“No. It’s not. Alright, have fun hunting!”  
Before Azure could leave, she saw Thunder at the entrance out of camp. Some random wolf came every day to give news on the process of rebuilding the camp. Today, it was Thunder she guessed.  
She walked over stiffly, not wanting to see the wolf. As she walked past, she nodded curtly at Thunder. As she walked she heard what he was saying. “The building process is going as planned. Arrow’s been doing most of the work though when it comes to the healers den and the nursery. Speaking of the nursery, it looks as if a tree sapling perhaps crashed down with the boulder because a tree has begun to grow.”  
Banji asked, “Well, how are the other wolves doing?”  
“Fine, fine. Yesterday we didn’t come ‘cause Willow got sick and we had to help her out.”  
Banji looked concerned. Thunder added, “She’s better now. We just had to make sure she wouldn’t get worse that day.”  
Banji still didn’t look convinced but just walked off anyway. “Okay, you go back to fixing the dens.”  
Azure ran off into the woods to go hunting. She made sure she was a far enough distance from the camp to start hunting. After walking up a hill to the top, she raised her head to see if she could smell any prey nearby. She couldn’t scent much except a few squirrels in the distance. _Well, better than nothing!_  
She crept up farther in their direction. A new scent seemed to appear. But she was already set on a couple squirrels to drag home. She kept moving farther and farther.  
Then she realized what that scent ways. It was another wolf. She turned around just in time to see Thunder running towards her. He pounced but it seemed as if he was trying to be playful. He panted, “Hi Azure!”  
“What has gotten into you!?”  
“Nothing. I just haven’t been able to talk to you for a few days!”  
“Well, being a complete idiot isn’t the way to do it.”  
He sighed and turned away. “Well. I was trying to be nice. I better go back to tend to the camp’s reconstruction.”  
She snapped back, “Besides, I don’t want to see you. You’re a jerk and you have attacked me and left a permanent scar!”  
Azure ran off and gave up on the hunt. _I’m not a good hunter anyway. Some other wolf will catch it and bring it back to camp._  
She decided to go back up the route that led up to the cliff side with the great view! She swerved to another direction to get there. _That’ll calm me down. I think I just need to relax. I’ve been stressed easily recently._  
She looked around at the canopy of trees which cast shadows onto the forest floor. Small shafts of light poked through sending a dazzling image of patterns on the grass. It was the time of year when the flowers were in full bloom and it was very hot out in the sun. It was the best time to curl up under a tree and sleep, or bask in the sun.  
She heard footsteps again behind her. She snarled, “What Thunder?!”  
Instead of Thunder, it was Banji. She stammered, “S-sorry. I th-thought you were T-thunder because he’s sort of chasing me down r-right now.”  
He snickered, “It’s okay. Thunder is very clingy. It’s something he needs to work on. I just wanted to see if you were okay. You’ve been a little distant since Sunrise’s death and wandering off in the night.”  
She retorted, “I just like the night! The stars are pretty and –“  
He interrupted, “You don’t need excuses, and I just want to know where you’re going.”  
She didn’t know what she should say. “I’m going into that dead forest. It’s quite fascinating and I like exploring.”  
It was the truth that she went into the dead forest but not because she liked exploring. “The dead forest?! That place is filled with monsters!”  
She shook her head, “The worst there are, are some Foxes, but it’s easy to run away from them.”  
Banji sighed, “Okay. But whenever you’re exploring be safe and make sure when you get back you can get enough sleep. Rain’s been noticing you leaving at night.”  
_We don’t share dens! How does she know? I guess she hears my pawsteps._  
Banji asked, “Where are you going now?”  
She replied, “Oh there is a path up to this cliff. It has a great view and Caramel showed me it yesterday. It’s nice and calm so I just want to go up there.”  
Banji nodded, “Okay. I’ll let you be if it’s peace you want. Goodbye Azure.”  
Banji walked away through the bushes again and just like that, he was gone. She sighed in relief. It wasn’t completely a lie but she was guilty that she lied.  
She continued walking up the slope too see what was up ahead. She was anxious that more wolves would appear out of nowhere. _Why am I worried? I’m just going on a walk. I guess I’m just randomly anxious about everything. Everything is just leaving me on edge._  
She heard a loud crashing noise to her left. She whipped her head around to see what was wrong. But she couldn’t see anything. She hesitantly started walking in the direction where she heard the noise. She walked up a tiny slope and then saw an old dog sitting at the top of a hill. He didn’t look like a threat but she growled, “What are you doing here? You are aware you are intruding on my pack’s territory.”  
The dog replied without looking towards her. “I know this is your territory, I’m just looking at what the humans are doing.”  
She retorted, “What do you mean?”  
He replied, “Come and look.”  
She hesitantly walked up the hill to see what was going on. Then once she sat up beside the old dog, she saw what was going on. Large Bulldozers were tearing up the ground and it looked as if they were also cutting down any trees that were in their way. The old dog sighed, “I used to live in a house near the forest. But then, my human died and they tore down the house and now they are building a road which will have more houses that cuts through the forest. This is a terrible fate for this forest.”  
Azure asked, “Where will you live now?”  
He turned, “You should be asking yourself that. They intend to cut down all of this massive forest in the next 5 years! I think they are going straight through first then they will slowly drive you out.”  
The wolf was a gray wolf with some resemblance of former brown fur. He had messy, unkempt fur, with wild yellow eyes. He had lost some patches of fur and he had scraggly, yellow and black teeth, or at least what remained of his teeth. He didn’t look like he had long for this world.  
The dog asked, “My name is Lucky. What’s your name?”  
She replied, “Azure. I am a healer in training for the pack of Branches.”  
“Not bad. I know a few wolves who are in packs. Including my granddaughter, who joined a pack a while back, a few months ago I believe. She’s a very fluffy dog with almost too much fur to handle. She had a blue bandana.”  
Azure recognized that description as Dusty. The dog they were currently taking care of her. “I recognize that Description as one of the pack members from the pack we are currently have an allegiance with. Her name’s Dusty.”  
His ears perked up, “You know her? How is she doing?”  
She grimly replied, “We were in a battle and she had her head bashed into a rock. Although it looks like she’ll make a full recovery. She’s fine and happy now.”  
“That’s unfortunate, but I’m glad that she’s okay. Tell her I said hi.”  
Azure asked, “Can you leave our territory?”  
He whimpered, “I don’t have anywhere else to go. I’m too old to be any use to a pack and I don’t want to be in a pack anyway.”  
Azure wondered, _Maybe I can ask Banji if he can live in the territory but not be a part of the pack._  
She sighed, “Maybe I can get an agreement with my Alpha to see if you can stay on the territory. But perhaps you can give us information on the humans building in our territory.”  
He nodded, “Thank you, you are a kind wolf.”  
He followed her and she made sure to try to make sure she stayed at a slow pace. She didn’t want the old dog to fall behind.  
Once she reached the camp, she saw Caramel guarding the camp. He stopped and growled at Lucky. Caramel snarled, “Intruder!”  
Azure rolled her eyes, “He’s with me. I found him on the edge of the territory. He’s going to speak with Banji.”  
Caramel informed her, “Oh, he’s still out. I think he went back to our old camp. He’ll be back by sunset.”  
Azure looked at the sky. Caramel spoke, “Yeah, it’s about mid-day. You can take him to the healer’s den and give him some prey.”  
Lucky thanked him. “Thank you, it is very kind of you to let me into your camp.”  
Caramel rolled his eyes and sat back down. She entered the temporary camp. At first no one noticed but then some caught up his scent and started staring. Azure saw the wolves muttering to each other.  
They walked over to the healer’s den which, thank goodness was right at the entrance. He led him over to Shadow. Shadow looked up, “Who’s this?”  
“His name is Lucky. He just lost his home to the humans. I wanted him to talk with our Alpha so we can see—“  
She interrupted, “What do you mean, lost his home to humans?”  
Before she could respond Lucky walked in front of her and looked at Shadow. “I am a house dog, although I know some things about pack life. My owner recently died and they tore down his house once they got the opportunity. I’ve been living at the edge of your territory for the past few weeks but now they are starting to build into the forest. My daughter told me that they intend to destroy the entire forest in the span of a few years! Since I still want to live on the edge of your territory. I want to see if I can negotiate with your Alpha and see if we can find an agreement of some sort, perhaps where I inform this pack of the human’s actions.”  
Shadow’s eyes widened, “The humans are invading the forest?!”  
He nodded grimly. “I want to help. They destroyed my home and now they are going to destroy mine and my granddaughter’s home, along with all of yours.”  
“G-grandpa? Is that you?”  
Azure whipped around to see Dusty.. Lucky looked at her and recognition flickered in his eyes. “Dusty! It’s you!”  
Dusty walked over and nuzzled him affectionately, like most wolves did as a signal of joy when seeing someone.  
She asked, “So, your home got destroyed. How is Grandma and mama’s home?  
He laughed, “They live on a farm with a lot of people living there. The other humans wouldn’t destroy their house! And the last time a checked, a few weeks ago, they were doing fine.”  
Dusty exclaimed, “So you’re going to live in the pack now! That will be so nice! Having some family with me.”  
Lucky shook his head. “I do intend to live in the forest, but not in a pack. I’m too old to be much help.”  
Hazel, the elder of the pack and two others from the other pack walked up to him. Hazel told him, “Elder wolves are always appreciated in packs! They tell stories to young pups!”  
He sighed, “It’s just, not for me. I’m going to ask your alpha if I can live at the edge of your territory and keep you all up-to-date on the descent of the humans into your territory.”  
Hazel asked quizzically, “What do you mean, ‘descent of the humans into our territory’?”  
He explained to her and the other elder wolves what was going on. They stared at him in shock! Hazel whimpered, “I can’t believe it. Tell that to our alpha. That could be good information for our pack to have.”  
Shadow nodded. “Here, let me get you some prey and you can talk with Dusty and Azure.”  
Lucky nodded and lied down on the soft grass. He looked around, “This is a quite beautiful camp Dusty.”  
Dusty informed him, “It’s only temporary. Both of the packs’ old camps got destroyed and so now we live here until our camps can be rebuilt. But it appears that the humans will destroy them so this might end up being permanent.”  
Shadow returned with a small bird in her jaws. She dropped it in front of Lucky. Lucky barked, “Thanks, miss!”  
She sighed, “It’s Shadow. Don’t call me Miss, or Ms. Shadow. That’s rude in my opinion.”  
She walked away to the other side of the den. Lucky chuckled and looked down at the tiny yellow bird. He took a bite of the bird yet he didn’t seem very hungry. Azure asked, “Do you know how to hunt?”  
“Yeah. I can catch birds and some small land prey, so I’m not that hungry right now. I had caught a rabbit this morning.”  
Dusty asked, “Well, can I have it?”  
He laughed, “Go right ahead!”  
Dusty grabbed it and started to devour it. Lucky looked at her torn up ear and the leaves wrapped around a large cut  
She shrugged. “I’d say about a month or so. Although, I can’t fixed a destroyed ear.”  
Shadow called out, “I’d say three weeks. She’s young so it should heal quickly.”  
Lucky looked around at the camp. Most of the wolves had gone back to doing whatever. Some still looked but they didn’t look as aggressive anymore. He sighed in relief and lowered his head is in if he was going to sleep.  
Dusty and Azure decided to talk about random things as she actually went hunting. She needed to pass the time, and although it wasn’t necessary, she wanted to. Dusty also needed to get back on her paws and start walking around to keep her strength up. They told her that she couldn’t hunt until the wound healed. She found it hard sometimes to focus or walk straight.  
The two were walking but suddenly Azure silenced Dusty using her tail. She stalked down the rocks to where she scented the rabbit. She could see that it was coming from the bush. She was glad she was on rocks for it couldn’t hear her pawsteps. She prepared to strike and leaped up. She crashed into the bush, although not being able to see her prey, she felt with her paws the small, fluffy body of a rabbit. She sank her teeth down and she felt it go limp.  
She raised her head with the fluffy, limp body in her jaws. She beamed with pride. Dusty walked over. “Nice catch! Should we go back? I’m already carrying a bird.”  
She laughed. She was having fun being out with a new-found friend. “I want to catch one more thing. Please?”  
She jokingly gave her the cute puppy eyes as to try and let her. She snickered, “Alright, alright! One more! And I get to catch it this time! You wanted me to get some exercise. Well then, I’m going hunting!”  
Azure nodded and grabbed the bird from her as she carried both of them. They walked around, sniffing at the air and grass looking for scent trail to follow. It took a while, since they were getting closer to where the humans were. But they scented a few mice in a tiny hole. Dusty was a little bit smaller than her, and she could fit her paw in the hole. It would be a meager catch but it was a good start for her to get back into hunting.  
She crouched down to the point where her wrapped up leg touched the ground. But she dug her paw in and she returned with blood all over her paw. She dug her face in and grabbed a couple of meagre scraps that were excuses for mice. The one blow must have killed them immediately. Dusty remarked through clenched teeth, “Huh, I guess the humans are starving and scaring away all the prey in this forest!”  
Azure sighed, “That’s not good. That’s really bad. But it only seems to be affecting this area. So, I think we’re good for now.”  
They returned home with their catches. They headed over to the prey pile which was put next to the healers den and under some roots, just like the old one. They placed their findings in the prey pile and they walked back over to the healers den. The sun had begun to set.  
Dusty shook Lucky awake, “It’s nearly sunset, the alpha will return soon.”  
Lucky looked up. “I was never asleep. Just resting my eyes.”  
Shadow smirked, “No. He was sleeping!”  
He laughed and sat up. Dusty sat next to him, trying to keep her leg in a comfortable position. Azure looked at them. “I can’t see the resemblance.”  
Dusty told her, “Oh. I take after my mother and grandmother. I merely take after his colors a little. Everyone in my family has a brown coat.”  
Azure nodded in understanding. She walked off and waited by the entrance. Soon enough, Banji walked through. She greeted him. “Hello Banji.”  
“Greetings Azure. Also, Caramel informed me on the situation. I shall negotiate it in front of the pack.”  
They used the tree as a meeting area. Banji climbed up and Swift looked up and saw him. She swiftly leaped up as well. Banji called out, “Lupine, do you mind coming up here with your beta wolf for the meeting?”  
Lupine, who was at the center of the clearing, looked up. He saw Banji up on the low hanging tree where they agreed to have pack meetings. Lupine bounded over and climbed up with Willow at his tail.  
Lupine joined Banji’s side. Willow and Swift, their betas, or the wolves who were second in command sat together. Willow didn’t look very pleased to be sitting next to a wolf from another pack. Especially a more powerful one than she was.  
Lupine stepped forward to call out, “May all wolves from both packs gather here under the tree for a pack meeting.”  
The small group consisting of Caramel, Azure, Dusty, Lucky, Hazel, and Shadow were already there so they sat at the front. Soon enough, the majority of the wolves, or the wolves who were in hearing distance of them sat down in the clearing. She heard murmurs from the wolves, particularly about Lucky.  
Banji stepped forwards to speak and Lupine stepped back a little. This was common for the alphas to have their voice heard easier. “We’ve been informed that a dog has been encroaching on our territory for weeks. Although, they wish to stay here, and they say they can be a use to the pack. Bring this wolf up.”  
Lucky automatically out of the crowd to face Banji and Lupine. He breathed in sharply as if he was a little nervous. “Recently, my home was destroyed by the humans and I’ve had to live on the edge of your territory, eating small birds and squirrels to survive. Although, recently the prey’s been driven out because—“  
He was cut off by the muttering of the wolves and a few howling out, “He can’t stay on our territory and eat our prey! We’ve lost both of our homes already!”  
Swift barked, “Let the wolf speak you idiots!”  
Lucky continued, “The prey’s been driven out because the humans are taking their massive monster-things, and tearing up the ground to make new homes and paths. They intend to destroy this forest by going straight through the middle and destroying the forest one of the two halves at a time. They intend to have this forest destroyed in about 5 years or so.”  
Some of the crowd didn’t seem convinced but some started whimpering and crying out in panic. Willow asked, “And how do you know all of this?”  
He replied calmly, “My daughter and a cat told me the same information. I can actually speak the language of cats. It’s not that difficult and I have a cat friend who understands humans fairly well and she told me this.”  
Willow snickered, “Really? You can understand cats? That’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard.”  
He growled, “It’s true! Would you like me to show you?”  
Willow wouldn’t stop laughing. He growled in a gravely tone, “I ah ot lyihng ahd you ahe ztupid for believihng thaht.”  
Lucky looked over at Willow and growled. Willow asked, “What did you just say to me?”  
He replied, smugly, “That meant, ‘I am not lying and you are stupid for believing that.’”  
Some of the wolves snickered and laughed. Willow growled, and crept back over to where Swift was sitting. Swift had a smug smile spread across her face. Lupine asked, “But how can you help us with that?”  
He replied, “Well, I can interpret any cats for you if you manage to stumble upon one. Also, I can keep you up-to-date on the progress of the humans.”  
Lupine and Banji muttered to each other as if deciding what to do. Hazel sat beside Lucky in anticipation.  
After a while, enough for the wolves to start muttering again. Banji and Lupine nodded at each other as in agreement. They called out, “We have come to a decision. Since we aren’t lacking in prey, for now, he can stay on our territory. He can stay in our camp for the night but then he can return to where he was. But, if the humans make any progress, he must alert us immediately! He must be treated with respect and there will be a punishment if any harm is done upon him.”  
He murmured, “Thank you.”  
Banji called out, “Meeting dismissed.”  
The pack dispersed as the pack meeting ended. Azure looked to see hazel guiding Lucky to a place to rest. Azure sighed and decided to leave camp. She had been out all day but she had to leave for the night.  
She got up and headed for the exit to camp. But, before she could exit, Caramel blocked her way. He asked, “Could you stay in the camp tonight? You need rest and you shouldn’t over-exert yourself. You haven’t been sleeping.”  
Azure sighed. “Okay, I’ll stay in the camp tonight. And you’re right. Lucky mentioned how he knew how to speak with cats and wolves alike. I want to meet the cat who told him what’s going on.”  
Caramel smiled, glad that she was agreeing. “Sounds like a plan. You should rest now I’ll see you in the morning.”  
Azure nodded and headed back to her den. She managed to just about get into the small crevice under the tree roots. She decided that she should probably change den sites soon since it was far too small.  
She wrapped her tail around herself and dug her face into its soft fur. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep. The sun had just begun to set, but she knew she would need extra sleep because of her lack of sleep for weeks.  
She opened her eyes, thinking that it had only been a few minutes, but it looked as if it had been a few hours. The moon was high in the sky, casting white and light blue light onto the clearing. It wasn’t very bright but it still cast some light onto the ground. She poked her head out to look at the moon.  
The sky was covered in clouds. But she saw that the moon was in a circular patch of sky where the clouds didn’t cover it up. Usually that would be a good omen, but then the clouds covered up the moon, making her unable to see the moon. That was often a bad omen. That concerned her but she wasn’t big into superstition so she dug her head back into her fur, using her own fur as a pillow, and closed her eyes.  
_She opened her eyes. She was in the forest. She turned around, hoping to see Sunrise and her dead siblings. But once again, she was greeted with the monster in her recurring nightmare. It snarled at her. She hesitantly stepped back, whimpering in fear. It crept closer and closer towards her. She kept stepping back until she started to run. Once she began running, it started chasing after her.  
She bolted through the trees, scared that it would catch up to her. Instead of continuing to run like she normally did in this nightmare. She saw a tree. She ran towards it and began to climb. She tried to climb up as fast as possible for it was scratching at the tree vigorously trying to cut it down by slashing its claws at the trunk relentlessly.  
She tried to climb up to another branch but her paws slipped and she fell down to the ground. The large creature quickly saw what was happening and grabbed her in mid-fall in his jaws. The creature was much larger than she was but she frantically clawed at its eyes trying to get out of its jaws so its piercing teeth would stop sinking into her flesh._  
Before it could get the blow that would kill her, she awoke with a start. She was breathing heavily and looked around frantically, expecting the monster to just jump out of nowhere and kill her.  
Once she managed to calm down and everything she rested her head back on her paws. She didn’t feel like sleeping again but it was far too early to get up. So, she sat there, wondering for the next few hours. The nocturnal wolves eventually went back to their dens and this was a signal that she could probably get up. But the sky was only a milky white, like the one before dawn, so she remained where she was and closed her eyes to doze off a bit.  
The night was long but she still felt tired when she got out of her den. Perhaps it was the fact she spent half of it awake. She was the first to be awake, even before the betas who assigned the day’s patrols. She went over to the prey pile and looked at the contents of last night.  
Caramel mustn’t have eaten much or they just caught too much the day before, for there was plenty of prey already in the pile. She could tell there wouldn’t be many patrols, and if there were, small ones with perhaps one or two wolves.  
She looked around to see if she could find a bird or rabbit. She saw that a patrol must have caught a deer. _Deer have a distinct scent. The prey pile smells of deer but I can’t see one. I guess one was eaten earlier in the night. Good job to whoever caught one!_  
She took a bird. It was large, probably a crow. There was a plethora of birds and squirrels in the pile. She went over to one of the clearings that wasn’t shaded by trees. She sat down in the clearing. She wasn’t quite as hungry as she expected so she went over to the entrance, to see if Caramel wanted to share the bird with her.  
She poked her head through the entrance covered by leaves. She sent leaves flying across the forest floor. She looked beside her to see Caramel and another wolf. It was Dusty.  
She asked, “Dusty? What are you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be resting?”  
She shrugged, “Wasn’t tired.”  
Azure sighed in defeat. She ignored the issue with Dusty over-exerting herself and asked Caramel, “Do you want to share this bird with me?”  
He shook his head, “No, but Dusty’s hungry. She decided to wait to eat so you two can share.”  
Azure set down the bird in front of her. She smiled and wagged her stubby tail as in a sign of thanks and excitement. She dug into the bird. Azure followed. Azure sat down to eat while Dusty just lowered her head to eat the bird. Dusty stopped about when she was half-way done, having her fill.  
She nudged the bird closer to Dusty. “I’m done, you can have the rest.”  
Dusty looked up at her. She smiled. “Thanks!”  
She dug in. Azure laughed, “How can you eat so fast?! I’ve only had a few bites!”  
She looked up. “I don’t know, maybe it’s my breed, but it’s probably that when I lived in a barn with my family, I got used to having to eat as much as possible, as quick as possible.”  
Azure asked, “How would your breed have anything to do about it?”  
“Oh! Some dogs may have bigger mouths, or seem to have endless hunger. That’s why.”  
She tilted her head, confused but went along with it. Dusty returned to eating and told Caramel... “Lucky is going to take me and Azure to talk to that ‘cat’ he’s talking about to prove he’s telling the truth. I don’t fully trust him on that.”  
Caramel laughed, “What’s gotten into you today?”  
She snapped back, “Nothing’s gotten into me!”  
Caramel laughed again, “You usually aren’t this rude!”  
She growled but couldn’t help but laugh. Caramel nodded at her and walked back into camp sending leaves flying. She assumed he was going to eat something. As Azure sat down, Dusty asked, “Do you know where Lucky is?”  
She shrugged, “Probably sleeping or something like that. He’s an old dog.”  
Azure commented, “Almost all of the wolves are old. You’re either very young or very old. And as in young I mean 1-3 years old, and then the age gap then is 6-9 or something. Lots of the wolves are the old wolves.”  
Dusty rolled her eyes, “Willow says it’s because we moved to this forest and we aren’t a ‘traditional pack’ anymore.”  
Azure sighed. “I guess she still holds onto the old way of life.”  
Dusty leaped up dramatically, “You see, Willow that the youth wolves will rise up and you must accept the change!”  
Azure burst out laughing and so did Dusty. Azure rose back to her paws and entered the camp, seeing if she could find Lucky. It would be a long walk to the human territories. She didn’t want it to be sunset by the time they arrived. She heard the rustle of the leaves as she walked through the leaf barrier. Swift had finally gotten up and Azure heard her yelling at the Hunters to get up. She faintly heard her yelling.  
Swift barked, “Get up you lazybones! We need to start patrols.”  
Another voice replied just as loudly. “We can do them later! We caught enough yesterday to supply today!”  
Swift growled, “That’s no reason to get lazy! Get up!”  
Azure snickered, trying to stifle laughter. She headed towards the elders den, which was just under a cliff on the other side of the tiny stream. It was surrounded by long grass but in the center was a floor of moss where the elders rested. She made her way through the grass. She saw in the middle, a heap of fur which were the elders that were curled up together to keep out any cold. Older wolves usually get cold easier, she noticed.  
Lucky looked like he had been welcomed with open arms for he was on top of the pile. He was snoring, loudly. Azure grinned and nudged Lucky with her paw, trying to wake him up. His fur was rough to the touch as if it wasn’t taken care of or very healthy. Lucky opened his eyes after a few jabs on the shoulder. He tumbled off the heap of wolves and looked at her. He grumbled, “What? I was having the best dream! I was merely a pup again and was playing with the fellow dogs in the dog park!”  
Azure chuckled, “We want to leave to go to the human territory soon. I don’t want it to be sunset by the time we get there. I assume that we will be going far into the human territory.”  
He nodded. “Yes, where we are going is far into the human territory. That’s where this she-cat lives.”  
Azure looked at him, confused. She wanted to believe him but it seemed crazy that a dog could talk to a cat. She thought to herself, _Every Animal speaks a different language and it’s impossible to learn a new one. I don’t believe him but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt._  
Lucky stretched and passed her. He said, “I’m going to get something to eat. Is there anything in the prey pile?”  
She nodded. “The hunters yesterday did a good job.”  
He headed through the grass barrier, and Azure followed obediently. Dusty was waiting there. She must be waiting for Lucky to come and knew he would need breakfast.  
Lucky asked, “Did you already eat?”  
Dusty vivaciously replied, “Yup! I’m ready when you are!”  
He laughed. He grabbed a small rabbit. He explained, “I’m technically not a pack member so I don’t want to take too much prey!”  
Azure shrugged, “Makes sense. But you’re our guest.”  
He yawned. “Not very hungry. Just a little tired.”  
Azure yawned. She was a little tired too. But it was early in the morning. _Once we start moving, we will wake up. That helps me get up!_  
Lucky started eating, without a word. Dusty looked at her and noted, “When I first joined my wolf pack, I remember being disgusted by how bloody it is sometimes when eating prey. I used to be so dainty when dealing with prey!”  
Azure replied, “Now you’re the complete opposite!”  
Dusty laughed, and she decided to sit next to Lucky, her grandfather. He had broken and some missing teeth but he still could eat the prey, and surprisingly quick. She wondered if he had just gotten used to it.  
Azure noticed the Hunter wolves had finally had enough and were forced out of their dens. She noticed how small the patrol was. It only consisted of Gold, Bronze, and Star.  
She looked over at her friend. She barked to get her attention and nodded in greeting when she turned to see her. She smiled and kept walking.  
Lucky bolted up once he was finished. He headed towards the exit and Azure and Dusty followed. Swift called from behind them, “Stay safe!”  
Azure called back, “I will!”  
They followed Lucky for a while through the forest. For the most part it was awkward silence but at one point Lucky noted, “By the way, if you think I was bluffing, I wouldn’t drag you all the way out into the forest if I was bluffing.”  
Azure rolled her eyes and sighed, “You have a point. Let’s just keep walking.”  
They kept walking for a while until they reached a stream that cut through the forest. Azure lowered her head to see if it smelled safe. She told them, “It looks and smells fine. I’ve heard tales where humans have dumped vile things into rivers, driving wolves out. That’s why Banji and the rest of the original pack had to move here to this forest.”  
Lucky’s eyes widened. “That’s a thing? I haven’t even heard of that!”  
She nodded and sat by the tiny stream. It was small so there was only a quiet sound of rippling water. She lowered her head so she could reach the water and drank it.  
It was cold to the touch but otherwise fine. It didn’t have any distinct taste of anything so she assumed it was okay. Although she could hear the rumbling of the human machines getting closer so she wanted to get out as quick as possible.  
Once Azure finished, she quickly bolted to her feet and waited for Lucky to keep moving. Dusty was still drinking the water so they couldn’t move yet. Azure grumbled impatiently, scared that the humans would get them if they didn’t start moving.  
Dusty eventually got up and Lucky seemed to have got the message that Azure was nervous. So, he broke into a run so they could get far away. He wasn’t very fast but he could keep at a good pace for a while. For them it was a jogging pace so it was very easy for them to follow him for a long time.  
After a while of walking, she noticed that the trees began to part and the scent of humans and garbage began to grow stronger. They were definitely close. As they passed a group of bushes, she wasn’t paying attention and slammed into something hard.  
She jumped back in surprise, back into the bushes. Dusty laughed and she barked back, angry and confused, “What?”  
She snickered, “You just slammed into a fence.”  
She blushed in embarrassment and Lucky noted, “We can easily dig a way in, it’s just the dog park.”  
She crept out of the bushes and watched as Lucky rapidly began clawing at the barren earth with his untrimmed claws. She wondered if it would be easier to just push away some of the fence. She asked Dusty, “Is there any way we can push some of the fence up to we can get in easier?”  
She opened her mouth but Lucky interrupted, “We can a little, but we still need to dig the hole. Dusty, help push up some of the fence.”  
She responded, “Sure! Of Course!” and ran to his side and began trying to push up a little bit of the fence with her front paws. Azure just watched.  
Once Lucky was finished, He crawled underneath the entrance they made and got to the other side. Dusty followed and then Azure.  
Azure looked around at the park. She had never gotten this close to human territory. She saw Dogs in the distance playing and barking. She was in a shaded area but the place still reeked of humans.  
Dusty saw she was anxious and tried to assure her is was fine. “It’s okay. You don’t look that different from other dogs, so I think you should be okay.”  
Azure smiled. “Thanks. We should get out as soon as possible.”  
Lucky offered, “We can stay here for a bit and rest. We have the time.”  
Dusty wagged her tail in excitement, “Yes! That would be great! I wonder if any of my pup friends are here.”  
Lucky laughed, “Perhaps. You probably wouldn’t recognize them. They’d be all grown up.”  
Dusty rolled her eyes and bolted off into the park. Azure hung back, not feeling very safe with the scent of humans that wafted around the area. She kept herself hidden in the bushes that covered the bottom of the fence.  
Lucky bolted after her and Azure hesitantly followed. She didn’t feel safe but maybe her small frame and slightly dog-like appearance could have her mistaken for perhaps just a stray dog. _They probably will be less cruel if they find a stray dog instead of a wolf. I hear stories of several stray dogs managing to live on the streets. They might just think I’m another stray._  
She followed Dusty who had her face close to the ground, trying to see if she could smell anything. Azure wondered how she could smell anything in this area. Azure could only smell humans and faintly dogs. Once they headed farther into the park, Azure saw some dogs, playing and chasing things.  
She saw a pack of dogs chasing some helpless squirrels. Once they got away they started barking angrily at the tree that the squirrels climbed up. They were behind him and Dusty laughed. The leader dog, stared at her, “What’s so funny, pup?”  
She snickered, “That is the worst way to try and catch a squirrel. I bet I could catch one!”  
The dog snarled back, “Shut your trap pup! Don’t tell me lies.”  
She grinned, “I’m not lying. I can catch a squirrel.”  
“Well, why don’t you show us? Show us how it’s done?  
Azure muttered to Dusty,” This is a bad idea, leave them alone.”  
Dusty retorted, “So what? I can catch a squirrel. It’s so easy too!”  
Dusty turned away from her and started to stalk a squirrel. The dogs were watching. Lucky rolled his eyes, “She was always the sassy and bold type. She’ll show off how strong she is at any chance.” Lucky headed off to go and wait by the road.  
Azure watched as she stalked the squirrel and killed it before it could move out of the way. She held it proudly in her jaws. She returned to them holding it up for all the dogs to see. The leader dog growled and pushed her to the side. “I can do that too! Step aside, pup!”  
Dusty slammed into the ground but she raised her head and watched, seeing if he would fail. Azure came over. Dusty nudged the dead squirrel to her. “You want a bite?”  
She nodded. She had been very hungry recently. She dug in, happy to get a meal. Dusty snickered, “Wow! You were hungry! You eat a lot!”  
Azure raised her head and pushed her playfully. “Shut up! I don’t eat that much! I’ve just been hungry recently.”  
“Happens with me too, so don’t worry.”  
Azure returned to eating and quickly finished it. She noticed that some of the dogs were looking at her. They looked disgusted. _They must be tamed dogs. Dogs who have never experienced blood._  
One of the dogs barked at her, “Girl dogs should be disgusted by that! You should be ashamed of being so disgusting!”  
She snapped back without thinking, “Well I’m not a dog!”  
The leader dog stepped back, “Wait a minute…”  
She growled to herself, “Dangit!”  
The dog who had barked at her cried out, “She’s a wolf! Wolves aren’t wanted here!”  
Dusty whispered to Azure, “It’s probably a good Idea to run. They may be dogs but they have a strong bite and will attack wolves.”  
Azure stood up and made a run for the street where Lucky was waiting. She ran off but the dogs were in pursuit. The short snouted leader was trying to grab her tail so she would stop because she could feel his hot breath.  
She moved in a zig-zag to throw them off her trail and she eventually made it too a fence that had a hole just big enough for her to escape. She crept underneath the fence and on the other side, the dogs were snapping at her while they tried to crawl underneath. But, since they were all going at once, they got crammed in the small tunnel.  
She sighed in relief and saw while they were distracted, Dusty left the park through the entrance. She trotted towards them. She laughed, “Good you went through that hole. Otherwise if they saw you going through the entrance you would have been dead.”  
She replied mockingly, “How do you know that?! I could have easily beat them.” She was pretending to be snobbish but started laughing.  
She replied in a more serious tone. “Seriously, some of those dogs were Boxers and Bulldogs. They have strong bites and can even rip off your leg if they dug hard enough.”  
Lucky noted. “That’s how my father lost his leg! He was a 3-legged German Shepherd after he was attacked by a Boxer! Poor ol’ guy.”  
Azure stared at them shocked, but glad she escaped in time. Lucky raised his ears up as if he was trying to hear something. Then he drew his ears back as if he was about to snarl. She asked, not seeing anything dangerous in front of them. He muttered, “Car.”  
She darted around but didn’t see one. Suddenly a car drove fast in front of them without any warning. Her eyes widened. Lucky flicked his ears as a signal to go as he started walking on the black pavement.  
Azure followed hesitantly, scared to be hit by one of the cars. They were large and looked like they could kill 3 dogs in one blow. _Especially since they are plated in metal, being slammed into one can kill you by shock and trauma._  
They managed to pass safely and afterwards, cars zoomed behind them with no regard of the wolf and two dogs. Lucky lead them to one of the houses. These houses were different than any she had ever seen in the distance. Some of them were normal ones but some looked as if they just had one stacked on top of another. This carried on for a few levels. Although lucky headed to one of the regular ones. He stood there at the back which had an enclosed area for which she heard someone call one time, a backyard.  
Lucky let out a hoarse meow, as if he was imitating a cat. After a few seconds, a beautiful white cat had leaped over the fence and was looking at Lucky. She laughed, “Seriously, you have such a tough time speaking cat. I know you were trying to say ‘Luna’, but you said Lana. You’re not very good and pronouncing, ‘u’.”  
He replied back, “I know, I know. At least for the most part you can understand me.”  
Azure’s eyes widened for she could understand the cat for she was speaking the dog language. She stammered, “How are you two… talking?”  
The cat retorted, “I can speak the dog language! Better than he can speak the cat language! And… who are you?”  
Lucky answered for her, “This is Azure and Dusty. Dusty is my granddaughter!”  
She headed over to Dusty. “Nice to meet you! So you’re the wolf, Dusty won’t stop talking about!”  
“I-I’m a dog.”  
“Oh, Right! Sorry I keep getting the two mixed up!”  
Azure asked, “I assume you are Luna?”  
“You got that right! I’m astonished you came so far to speak with me! You probably shouldn’t be traveling that far though.”  
Azure inquired, “How come?”  
“When cats, dogs, and wolves are expecting, they have this lavender sort of scent. You have that scent.”  
She replied, “Oh! I just spend a lot of time near flowers! Lavender has a strong one so I probably just had some of it rub against me.”  
She continued, “You also look like one. You look like you have gained some weight.”  
She sighed and Dusty looked at her confused. “What is she talking about?”  
She shook her head, trying to seem confused. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”  
Lucky added. “She’s right. Now that she mentions it.”  
She felt embarrassed and headed back. Dusty barked, “Well, congrats! I didn’t know.”  
She sat back for the rest of the conversation. They talked for a bit. Discussing the new information. Azure didn’t want to talk and they all seemed to understand that and let her slip back. From the other side of the fence they heard mewling suddenly.  
Azure turned Curiously, Luna meowed, “Oh! That’s just my kits! They’re probably fussy that I’ve left them for a bit on their own. Let me get them.”  
Lucky inquired, “You have kits?”  
“Yeah! They’re a month old! Oh! And they also know how to speak dog too!” She leaped up onto the fence and disappeared behind it.  
About a minute later she leaped back up onto the fence holding 3 tiny white kittens in her jaws along with five clinging onto her back. Dusty barked, “That’s a lot of kittens to take care of!”  
Most of the kittens were completely white except two of them. One was white with light gray spots. The other was gray with light brown spots. But they blended into the crowd for they weren’t that visible. But it was definitely distinct enough to notice.  
Luna meowed, “Their names are Spirit, Jasper, Pyrite, Opal, Whisp, and Whisk. The white and gray one is Cloud and the gray and brown one is Forest.”  
She watched the tiny kittens play but noticed that Forest sat by his own. He was watching a twig, as if he was waiting for it to come alive and start moving around. She walked over to the tiny kitten and asked, “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you playing with your siblings?”  
He whimpered, “They don’t like me!”  
She assured him, “They don’t think that! I’m pretty sure of it!”  
He whimpered, “They call me names! Like Ugly and Wild!”  
She didn’t like the idea of being called ugly but she was curious about the other name. “What’s wrong with being wild? That’s a good thing! It means you’re adventurous and don’t care if you get messy. I find that quite good!”  
He retorted. “Well, you’re a wolf. They live in the forest! We’re going to be sold off to families and they won’t want a wild or ugly cat!”  
Azure joked, “Well, If you don’t get a home, you could always live with the wolves, you’d fit right in if that’s the case!”  
He laughed and she felt glad to cheer up the tiny kit. She didn’t want to see it sad and it cheered herself up too. Forest curled up beside Azure. He must have been tired for he fell asleep curled up beside Azure.  
She let the tiny kit rest. She noticed how pups and kits got tired easily to it made sense. She listened to Dusty, Luna, and Lucky talk. Luna offered, “You can spend the night in my backyard. The humans are welcoming of stray dogs and cats to spend the night in their backyard. They don’t leave out food but I can probably get you some food from inside the house.”  
Lucky responded. “That’s kind of you! Our pack isn’t expecting us to be back by the end of the day so we can stay here for a bit. Azure will need some rest too.”  
She barked, “I’m not tired! I’ll be okay!” But then she realized she did feel tired from the walking. They had walked for miles straight.  
Dusty retorted, “I’m tired so you must be!”  
She laughed, “Alright! Alright! We’ll stay the night. It isn’t quite sunset but it will be soon. So, we won’t want to be travelling in the dark.”  
Luna meowed, “Okay kits! You’re going back inside!”  
They whined in annoyance. Spirit whined, “But we don’t want to!”  
She assured her, “You can still play inside for a bit. It’s going to get dark soon.”  
Some of the kits whined but congregated in a line in front of her. Forest was fast asleep by Azure’s side. He was curling up in her soft, white fur. She was a strange wolf and her fur color was split. On her left side, she had dark gray fur with a yellow eye while on her right side, she had white fur with a green eye. Most didn’t notice it for it wasn’t that big of a deal, but when one of the kits saw Forest sleeping on Azure, they cried, “Hey look! The Freaks are hanging out!”  
Forest must have not been deep sleeping, for he opened his eyes and tried to hide in Azure’s thick fur. Azure tried to reassure him that it was okay. The kits followed their mother back inside but she completely forgot about Forest. Maybe she thought it was better if he stayed out here or perhaps she didn’t care.  
Luna kicked open the gate by leaping down while kicking the gate. Lucky and Dusty walked into the backyard. Azure stood up and Forest tried to cling onto her fur but fell down. She smiled, “Come on, let’s go!”  
Forest followed but eventually ran ahead! Dusty was settling underneath a tree. It was warm outside still even with the soon setting sun. Lucky was curled up beside Dusty. Forest found a small bush by the fence and headed underneath. It looked like someone had dug a hole underneath. It didn’t seem like Lucky had dug it. It must have been another dog for it was far too neat. Azure was small enough to crawl underneath and it was warm enough to keep Forest warm. _Sunrise told me one time how pups get cold easily so this place should be good. It doesn’t look like Forest wants to sleep inside with his mean siblings. I get it too._  
Forest nuzzled up next to her. He mewled, “Your fur is so soft! It’s like my pillow inside!”  
She smiled and responded, “I’ve been cleaning my fur a lot recently. That’s probably why.”  
He murmured, “Why are wolves so nice to me? The cats aren’t.”  
She responded. “I guess they don’t understand you. We are wild and in my pack, we have grown up to respect everyone, except things that are a threat to us. You are not a threat and you are very kind and sweet. So I’ll be nice to you.”  
He smiled before curling up by Azure’s side and falling asleep again. Azure realized she was growing quite fond of this kit. _If he was a wolf, he’d make a fine hunter or healer._  
She heard pawsteps at the entrance and she poked her head out. Dusty stood at the entrance and lied down to make eye-contact.  
She asked, “Have you grown attached to that kit, haven’t you?”  
She retorted, “He’s nice, and sweet! He’s treated unfairly by his siblings and I want to be nice to him!”  
Dusty grinned. “You have a point. He’s very nice. He’s the only one of the pups who hasn’t tried to climb up me saying that I’m so much fur I won’t feel their claws. By the way, I do! This is why I don’t want to be a parent!”  
She laughed. Dusty noted, “You’ll be a good parent though.”  
Azure smiled. Dusty yawned. “I’m a little tired but Luna’s gonna get food soon so I’m staying up.”  
Azure nodded. “I should too! Forest needs to eat as well.”  
Dusty noted, “You’re a better parent than Luna from what I’ve seen. I don’t get why she only takes care of the kits that look like her.”  
She suggested, “Maybe she’s very vain or perhaps being a white cat with blue eyes is the standard for cats in this area. But ironically, the standard for wolves would be gray or brown. So he’ll fit right in!”  
She snickered, “That’s what I said! He’s seems like he would make a good Healer wolf or well, cat.”  
She asked, “How do you know?”  
Azure responded, “Well, he is kind and innocent. He wouldn’t be a very good hunter but healers can do good with those traits. He would make a good apprentice of mine.  
Dusty and Azure sat and talked for a while. Forest had fallen asleep again. He must sleep a lot for he had slept for the entire day. She wondered if he was out at night and just slept during the day.  
After a while, Luna came out with a bag of food. It wasn’t much, but it was something. Lucky bounded over and started to dig in. She wondered if there would be any left for Dusty and Her.  
Luna meowed at them, “Don’t worry, I’ll get more! My humans will probably see that you are all here. They typically bring food out then.”  
Dusty nodded and Luna headed back inside. After a few minutes a human walked outside. Azure shrank back, scared. The human placed down small bowls of what smelled like food, but were just pellets. She stared at them from a distance, confused. Dusty barked, “It’s okay! Don’t worry! The food pellets won’t poison you!”  
Forest must’ve woken up for he laughed and mewled, “Yeah! Look!”  
He headed over to the human who stroked the side of his face and patted his head. He playfully pawed at the human’s legs. The human walked back inside without offering or letting Forest back in. _Do the humans not care about him? Perhaps the human thought he was another stray since they’re clueless, but still! Not his own mother!_  
Azure crept out and cautiously started to slowly eat the food. She didn’t mind its taste. It tasted like meat but with a less bold taste along with this very weird after-taste that tasted disgusting to her.  
She ignored the after-taste and finished gulping down the last few bites. She headed over to where she saw Forest playing. He was stalking a fake mouse. She walked over, confused. She asked, “You know that’s fake, right?”  
“Yeah! I know! The human puts it there so I can play with it! She knows I spend all my time outside at night. She came out one time and played with me!”  
Azure Sighed. “Well. Okay. Have Fun. I’m going to sleep.”  
Forest cried, “Night Azure!”


	12. NOTE: Storm Clouds Is Becoming An Animated Series!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCotMQ5ESZ2_12Gjy879ciBQ

After a long time of thinking... I have decided Storm Clouds Will Become an Animated Series! It's been in the back of my mind for a long time but my sister, Jasmesia is creating an animated series which is an au of sorts of Storm Clouds... So I found it a perfect opportunity to make Storm Clouds a series.  
I will write another book and perhaps some short stories of the character's pasts but this book itself will be cancelled unless I cancel the series.


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